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

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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.