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

自然灾害一再发生，水质下降，饮用水供应不可靠，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灾难性洪水，导致全岛电力和水从2022年9月18日开始中断。强风暴导致波多黎各社区严重缺水。对社会经济脆弱社区的负面影响在很大程度上仍不为人所知，特别是当这些社区因气候变化而一再面临灾害时。特别是，作为建立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的心理健康和心理复原力的影响。通过快速反应研究（RAPID），短暂的数据，这将有助于建立两个飓风和服务中断的社会后果的知识库将被收集。该项目将强调需要通过综合健康和饮用水方案，更加努力地解决心理健康问题。建立在飓风菲奥娜测量和感知的水质，心理健康状况和心理弹性从三个脆弱的社区在波多黎各前的数据，PI将获得短暂的数据重复灾害对水不安全相关的看法和心理健康的影响菲奥娜飓风后。具体而言，目标是：（1）捕捉，对比和比较微生物和化学水质之前和之后的菲奥娜;（2）纵向研究如何在水质变化和经验与水不安全菲奥娜后影响心理健康;（3）纵向研究灾害情况如何改变人们的行为对饮用水的做法和信任不同的水源。这些目标将通过混合方法进行：（i）在家庭层面的自来水采样，（ii）对同一个前菲奥娜组的150户家庭进行调查，（iii）使用enthnographic方法对30户家庭进行访谈。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

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.