Forest fires of the County of Los Angeles and the trauma of sudden displacement

Climatic crises ravage the nation, causing and amplifying serious health challenges. The Los Angeles County region is among the most painful forest fires to face the state. However, the displacement does not discriminate by the social class or the tax bracket. Celebrities like Jhene Aiko, John Legend, Tina Knowles and Bozoma “Boz” Saint John have lost their houses. Many other people who are not in the eyes of the public have also been moved, including residents of Altadena, a community that blacks have lived and loved since the great migration.

The resources necessary to combat travel effects are difficult to obtain for the average person. The west of North Carolina continues to try to undo the significant damage of the catastrophic hurricane Helene, who ravaged communities through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Our neighborhoods as “sacrifice zones”

The Journal of Climate Change and Health reports that “structural racism has resulted in sacrifice areas, which have disproportionate exposure to sources of pollution resulting in health inequalities” and “colored communities know the syndemic of climate change, environmental injustice and structural racism”.

Altadena was affected by the late Eaton, one of the many forest fires in the region. This region has been a paradise for black families for generations. The white flight in the region presented possibilities for residents who had trouble locating appropriate accommodation due to redline.

This tragedy Nivelé Altadena, 13,690 acres. The flames decimated businesses, houses, worship, government offices, medical facilities, museums and community centers. Many black families end up with limited resources after looking at everything they worked and sacrificed to disappear in a few hours. Many of these owners may have lost fire insurance coverage in recent months.

Some residents have attempted to protect their homes by exposing air pollutants and other potential health risks.

These climatic crises cause health risks

Blacks are particularly vulnerable to health challenges presented by extreme weather events. A 2022 article published in the Journal of Current Environmental Health Reports said that “racial and socioeconomic marginalized communities in the United States have turned out to have greater impacts of storm and flood events, extreme heat and infectious diseases that become more frequent due to climate change.”

The Environmental Protection Agency published a report in 2021 which identified that “black and African-American individuals are 40% more likely than non-black and non-African individuals to live in areas with the highest increases in mortality rates due to climate change in extreme temperatures.”

The impact on mental health

Hurricane Helene claimed the lives of hundreds of people and has moved thousands of others. The United States Census Bureau said that more than half a million North Carolinians lived in a disaster declaration after Helene’s impact. These crises can affect the quality of his mental health.

Losing your home is a legitimate traumatic experience that sticks with you.

Rapper Meek Mill expressed his sympathy for those in the Los Angeles region in an article on X. The native of Philadelphia also used the platform to reveal his own experience with a trauma related to fire. “Prayers at the ?????????????????

An article in January 2024 in the current opinion in psychiatry said that the “prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, seems to be higher for displaced peoples.” In 2021, reports from the Disorders Journal of Affective revealed that “higher exposure to traumatic experiences and an increase in post-migration stress were identified as risk factors for mental disorders in the populations of force.”

Even years later, it can have a lasting effect. Megan Collins, a therapist and an authorized wedding art therapist in Beverly Hills, California, has spoken of what someone on the move could feel due to a climate crisis. “It is a trauma to instantly lose everything you have known. It is your sense of stability. It is a basic basic human need that above all, ”she told Black Health Matters.

Collins currently offers free therapy sessions to those who suffer from the effects of Los Angeles forest fires.

“When you are a traumatized person, these trauma are stored in your body,” said Collins. This may appear to be easily triggered in situations where uncertainty is present.

“You may have long -term difficulties to stay in your life. It can be difficult to socialize and have relationships. It can be difficult to maintain work,” added Collins. “The trauma can have you removed and isolate,” she continued. “It really affects a relationship.”

Forced displacement interrupts certain community construction activities which anchor the average life of the person. There are no dance recitals or parades. Installation in a new place does not instantly eliminate the injury to lose your house. Collins explained that those who lasted the trauma of displacement will still need support once their difficulties will no longer be a trendy subject. “This crisis is not resolved by simple solutions,” she said. “It will take these people a very difficult period, and they will need a lot of long -term support.”

The potential long -term health impact

Climatic crises can prevent people from receiving their medication recharges. Forest fires can create potential physical health problems. Their impact can worsen chronic conditions or cause new ones. Those who have autoimmune or high risk conditions of developing them can be strongly affected by the low air quality they cause.

According to the Journal of Rheumatism & Musculosqueletal Diseases, “long -term exposure to air pollution was associated with [a] A higher risk of developing autoimmune diseases, in particular rheumatoid arthritis, CTD and MII “and” chronic exposure to levels higher than the human protection threshold were associated with a higher risk of 10% of Imid. »»

The journal of autoimmune journals said that “smoke has proven to play a pathogenic role in certain autoimmune diseases because it can trigger the development of autoantibodies and act on the pathogenic mechanism, possibly linked to an imbalance in the immune system” and “not only of cigarette smoke, but also atmospheric pollution of air as self-mobility ”.

Tropical cyclones and hurricanes can cause poor health results. “Floods focused on storms contaminate environmental, recreational and drinking sources of water” and “extreme weather events have been associated with gastrointestinal diseases or specific epidemics”, according to an article of 2023 in the newspaper of Emerging Infectious Diseases. Climatic crises can lead to the spread of pathogens transmitted by vectors, airborne pathogens and nosocomial infections.

“Extreme precipitation is formed of the standing flood waters containing contaminated runoff, sediments, debris and waste hosting fecal coliforms and enteropathogens.

Collins noted that there can be situations where a person’s body reacts to the stress of losing their house for a climate crisis. “Our mental health has an impact on our physical health and vice versa, so you can see people who end up with a certain type of autoimmune diseases or other physiological symptoms,” she said.