My Life. My neighborhood. Our world.

There is much we can learn from people who have faced natural disasters in other places. How they coped with the day to day aftermath of a most traumatic change in their lives gives us insight into our own. If nothing else we can learn that what we feel - the emotional numbing and detachment, followed by disappointment, anger, resentment and bitterness - are all natural parts of the recovery process.

Dr. Ray Scurfield, at the University of Southern Mississippi - Gulf Coast, has up close and personal knowledge of disasters and their aftermath through his career long research focused on dealing with the aftermath of war and of natural disasters. As Director of the University's Hurricane Katrina Research Center, Dr. Scurfield has developed an excellent chart showing the Six Stages of Disaster Recovery. It provides in capsule, details on about how long each phase generally lasts as well as the emotions and behaviors people go through, and the most important resources to lean on during each particular phase.

To help you see that what you are feeling and doing as you try to cope with the Great Flood of 2008, is part of a natural process of healing and recovery, click here to see this excellent chart.