The Effects of Hurricane Harvey on Houston’s Gravidae

This thesis studies the effects of Hurricane Harvey on Houston’s gravidae (pregnant women). The study found that the gravidae’s demography determined their vulnerability to the storm. Gravidae who were foreign-born, in low-income households, with no college education, with no private health insurance, who utilized a county hospital, and who had no access to medical services or a maternity hospital were most likely to be affected by Hurricane Harvey. U.S.-born, high-income household gravidae, those with private health insurance, and those who were private hospital users were more likely to suffer a financial loss of $5,000 or more. The U.S.-born, non-Latinx Black and Latinx gravidae who were fluent in English were more affected than Latinx gravidae who spoke Spanish only. The gravidae that reported anxiety for four weeks or more were U.S.-born, living in high-income households, and had a college degree. Multivariate regression was performed for gravidae who were affected by the storm. The models show that during a public health crisis like Hurricane Harvey: 1) Latinx gravidae will be least likely to have access to medical services, 2) non-Latinx Black and Latinx gravidae will be more likely to have financial difficulty, 3) those with income of less than $35,000 will be less likely to have access to maternity hospitals and will be less likely to suffer financial difficulty of more than $5,000, and 4) those utilizing county hospitals will be less likely to have access to medical services and maternity hospitals and will be less likely to experience the financial difficulty of more than $5,000 compared to those utilizing private hospitals.