Surprising lessons from studies about post-Katrina trauma

By Rhitu Chatterjee,

Jonaki Mehta

Published August 31, 2025 at 3:11 PM MDT

Hurricane Katrina caused widespread trauma and dislocation. Researchers who followed survivors to track the mental health impacts of the storm found that while the trauma of Katrina caused elevated levels of mental health symptoms, many of the survivors reported personally growing from those losses.

Rhitu Chatterjee

Rhitu Chatterjee is a health correspondent with NPR, with a focus on mental health. In addition to writing about the latest developments in psychology and psychiatry, she reports on the prevalence of different mental illnesses and new developments in treatments.

See stories by Rhitu Chatterjee

Jonaki Mehta

Jonaki Mehta is a producer for All Things Considered. Before ATC, she worked at Neon Hum Media where she produced a documentary series and talk show. Prior to that, Mehta was a producer at Member station KPCC and director/associate producer at Marketplace Morning Report, where she helped shape the morning's business news.