There’s no place like home: Examining the emotional consequences of Hurricane Katrina on the displaced residents of New Orleans

•Sample includes residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina for more than a year.•I examine the relationship between distress, sociodemographic and housing variables.•Effect of race on distress disappears when housing variables are controlled.•There is not a positive relationship between increased home damage and distress.

Using survey data from the Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study (DNORPS), I examine the emotional consequences of Hurricane Katrina on the displaced residents of New Orleans. First, I employ an established framework within disaster research to investigate whether the stress level of displaced residents varies by race, income, and gender. As the residents in this dataset remained uprooted from their homes, I also examine three housing variables, including homeownership status, house type, and four levels of home damage. Contrary to previous research, home damage and homeownership status are significant predictors of displaced residents’ emotional distress while the effect of race disappears. These findings suggest that future research on the mental health of disaster survivors, especially for displaced residents, expand the traditional analytical framework to consistently include housing variables, especially different categories of home damage, in addition to race, income, and gender.