Natural Disaster Trauma and How EMDR Can Help
September is peak hurricane season in South Florida where we live. As such, this time of the year evokes a particular vibe and energy for many residents of the area. People are more vigilant when it comes to weather reports as cones and spaghetti models show up on the news. Here, people trust fellow Floridian and weather enthusiast, Mike’s Weather Page, who compiles the data and shares it to his followers.
As soon as a storm seems headed to our area, people start panic-buying water and supplies from Publix! Around this time of year, I like to make sure the family’s gas tanks are pretty full most of the time just in case.
For most people, that vigilance fades once the season ends. In fact, it’s like people completely forget about it once it’s over! Unfortunately, some communities are directly impacted by a storm. When this happens, the negative effects can linger WAY after the power comes back on and the debris is cleared away. The truth is that many people across the globe each year are traumatized by some natural disaster or weather-related event.
Of course, humans are very resilient, and most people who experience a overwhelming weather event do not develop PTSD diagnoses. Their normal, acute stress symptoms fade away over time as people process these events in health ways. But, of course, some people do end up being traumatized in significant ways.
Are Things Getting Worse in the World?
It's reasonable to feel like the storms have changed. In some measurable ways, they have.
The World Meteorological Organization's Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from weather, climate and water extremes documented nearly 12,000 weather/climate/water-related disasters worldwide between 1970 and 2021. This accounted for just over 2 million deaths and roughly $4.3 trillion in economic losses. Over 90% of those deaths occurred in developing countries, while the US alone absorbed about 39% of global economic losses. Earlier WMO analysis of the 1970–2019 period found that the number of such disasters rose roughly five-fold across the half-century, averaging out to more than one disaster per day globally.
Climate scientists however don't necessarily expect global warming to produce more Atlantic storms. NOAA actually forecasted a below-normal 2026 season (thank goodness), largely because of a developing El Niño. BUT, warmer oceans appear to be changing storm behavior by increasing their intensity and power. That means stronger winds, higher intensity, heavier rainfall, and bigger storm surge (exacerbated by higher sea levels), and a greater possibility of rapid intensification which is extremely scary!
It’s also worth noting that frequent, repeated storms increases the potential psychological impact on communities. A study of more than 1,600 Florida residents exposed to both Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Michael found that repeated exposure (direct, indirect, and even media-based) was associated with higher post-traumatic stress symptoms, more generalized worry, and greater functional impairment. A person's prior exposure appears to sensitize rather than harden or inoculate them, thus making Floridians especially vulnerable.
How EMDR can Help
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapy recognized by the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies as an effective treatment for PTSD. EMDR is based on the idea that overwhelming experiences (i.e., traumatic experiences) can get maladaptively stored in an unprocessed, state-dependent form. That is, the “yuck” and distress experienced during a traumatic event or events are essentially locked in the mind and body with all the original images, body sensations, and emotions still attached. That's why an old memory of a bad storm can still feel like it's happening years later rather than like something that happened and is over. Using bilateral stimulation (typically guided eye movements, tones, or tapping) while the client holds the underlying target memory in mind, EMDR can helps the brain reprocess these experiences to adaptive resolution, thus ameliorating symptoms.
EMDR is particularly well suited for this type of traumatic experience, and much research has done with traumatized populations following a natural disaster.
What the Research Shows
A systematic review published in the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research examined eight studies of EMDR with natural disaster survivors and found statistically and clinically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, and other distress across all of them.
A 2024 network meta-analysis in BMC Psychiatry pooled 26 studies covering 4,331 children and adolescents exposed to natural and man-made disasters. EMDR outperformed inactive control conditions for PTSD both immediately post-treatment and at follow-up, and was also significantly effective for depression. The authors concluded EMDR appeared to be the most effective of the interventions compared for reducing PTSD and depression in this population.
Helping Children Heal After Hurricane Iniki
This study was conducted with elementary school children still meeting PTSD criteria years after Hurricane Iniki who had already failed to respond to a prior therapeutic intervention. After three sessions of EMDR, the treatment group showed substantial reductions in post-traumatic symptoms relative to wait-list controls, with more modest improvements in anxiety and depression. Gains held at six-month follow-up, and the children made significantly fewer visits to the school nurse. It remains one of the first controlled studies of disaster-related PTSD treatment in children.
Early Intervention When the Threat Isn't Over
Early-intervention protocols have been developed specifically for this context. The EMDR Protocol for Recent Critical Incidents (EMDR-PRECI), developed by Ignacio Jarero and Lucina Artigas, is designed for trauma that is recent and ongoing. These are situations where the threat hasn't fully resolved as is often the case. In the past, the approach had been to provide treatment when the traumatic episode is over, but not everyone has this luxury when the stress of the incident(s) remains ongoing. In a randomized controlled field study following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Baja California, a single EMDR-PRECI session produced significant improvement in post-traumatic stress symptoms, with results maintained at 12-week follow-up even as frightening aftershocks continued. There is also a group version, the EMDR Integrative Group Treatment Protocol (EMDR-IGTP), developed to reach many affected people at once.
Our whole practice is trained in these protocols because we brought the man, Dr. Ignacio "Nacho" Jarero himself to our area back in April to teach us his advanced EMDR protocols! Check out this blog I wrote about Nacho’s training.
Start EMDR Therapy in Palm Beach County, FL
If a past storm still feels like it's happening whenever the forecast turns, you don't have to carry that alone. Our team is trained in advanced EMDR protocols built specifically for disaster-related trauma, and we're here to help you process what happened and feel steady again. You can start your therapy journey with Mangrove Therapy Group by following these simple steps:
1. Reach out today to schedule a session
2. Meet with a caring therapist
3. Take the first step toward relief
Other Services Offered with Mangrove Therapy Group
EMDR Therapy isn't the only service that Mangrove Therapy Group can offer to support the mental health of our clients. We are here to support you through so much more. Our Delray Beach, FL office, also offers care for:
- Trauma, EMDR intensives, PTSD, and Complex PTSD
- Substance use and process addictions
- Eating disorders and body image concerns
- Grief, loss, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem challenges
- Anger, shame, emotional dysregulation
- “Failure to Launch” issues and life transitions
- CBT and DBT-based support
If you’re ready, we’re here. You can learn more on our blog or in our FAQ.