Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:302-305
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
Disaster at Buffalo Creek. Loss of communality at Buffalo Creek
KT Erikson
The survivors of the Buffalo Creek disaster suffered both individual and
collective trauma, the latter being reflected in their loss of communality.
Human relationships in this community had been derived from traditional
bonds of kinship and neighborliness. When forced to give up these
long-standing ties with familiar places and people, the survivors
experienced demoralization, disorientation, and loss of connection.
Stripped of the support they had received from their community, they became
apathetic and seemed to have forgotten how to care for one another. This
was apparently a community that was stronger than the sum of its parts, and
these parts--the survivors of the Buffalo Creek flood--are now having great
difficulty finding the personal resources to replace the energy and
direction they had once found in their community.
