RAPID: Impact of Repeated Disasters on Water Insecurity and Mental Health Outcomes in Puerto Rican Communities

反复发生的自然灾害使水质下降，饮用水供应的可靠性下降，从而影响生活质量。飓风玛丽亚五年后，飓风菲奥娜在波多黎各造成了灾难性的洪水，从2022年9月18日开始，整个岛屿的电力和水都中断了。强风暴导致波多黎各各地社区严重缺水。对社会经济脆弱社区的负面影响在很大程度上仍然未知，特别是当这些社区因气候变化而一再面临灾害时。特别是，作为建设适应性复原力的第一步，我们需要更好地了解反复发生的灾害和相关的水基础设施对人们心理健康和心理复原力的影响。通过这项快速反应研究拨款（Rapid），将收集短期数据，这些数据将有助于建立关于两次飓风和服务中断的社会后果的知识库。该项目将强调需要通过综合保健和饮用水方案在解决心理健康问题方面作出更多努力。在飓风“菲奥娜”之前，波多黎各三个脆弱社区的水质、心理健康状况和心理复原力的测量和感知数据将得到关于反复灾害对“菲奥娜”飓风后与水不安全有关的认知和心理健康结果的影响的短期数据。具体来说，目标是：(1)捕获、对比和比较菲奥娜飓风前后的微生物和化学水质；(2)纵向研究Fiona后水质变化和水不安全经历对心理健康的影响；(3)纵向研究灾害情景如何改变人们对饮用水习惯的行为和对不同水源的信任。这些目标将通过一种混合方法来实现：(i)在家庭一级进行自来水取样，（ii）对菲奥娜之前的同一组150个家庭进行调查，以及（iii）使用人种志方法与30个家庭进行访谈。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Repeated natural hazards impede the quality of life through declines in water quality and reliability of potable water access. Five years after Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Fiona caused catastrophic flooding across Puerto Rico causing island-wide power and water outages starting September 18, 2022. Strong storms have led to significant water insecurity in communities across Puerto Rico. The negative impacts on socioeconomically vulnerable communities remain largely unknown, especially when these communities face repeated exposure to disasters due to climate change. In particular, as a first step towards building adaptive resilience, we need to better understand the impacts of repeated disasters and associated water infrastructure on people’s mental health and psychological resilience. Through this Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID), ephemeral data that will help build the knowledge base on the social outcomes of two hurricanes and service interruptions will be collected. The project will highlight the need for more effort in addressing mental health issues through integrated health and potable water programs. Building on pre-Hurricane Fiona data on measured and perceived water quality, mental health statuses, and psychological resilience from three vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico, the PIs will obtain ephemeral data on the effects of repeated disasters on water insecurity-related perceptions and mental health outcomes following Hurricane Fiona. Specifically, the objectives are to: (1) capture, contrast, and compare microbiological and chemical water quality before and after Hurricane Fiona; (2) longitudinally study how changes in water quality and experiences with water insecurity after Fiona affected mental health; and (3) longitudinally study how disaster situations change people’s behaviors towards drinking water practices and trust in different water sources. These objectives will be carried out through a mixed-methods approach: (i) tap water sampling at the household level, (ii) a survey to the same pre-Fiona group of 150 households, and (iii) interviews with thirty households using enthnographic methods.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.