ORIGINAL PAPER Hispanic Health Disparities After a Flood Disaster: Results of a Population-Based Survey of Individuals Experiencing Home Site Damage in El Paso (Texas, USA) Timothy W. Collins • Anthony M. Jimenez • Sara E. Grineski Published online: 21 April 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract In 2006, El Paso County, a predominantly Hispanic urban area, was affected by a flood disaster; 1,500 homes were damaged. We assessed the health impacts of the disaster upon 475 individuals whose homes were flood- damaged using mail survey data and logistic regression. Substantial proportions of individuals had one or more physical (43 %) or mental (18 %) health problem in the four months following the floods; 28 % had one or more injury or acute effect related to post-flood cleanup. Adverse event experiences, older age, and lower socioeconomic status were significantly associated with negative post- flood health outcomes in all three logistic regression models. A lack of access to healthcare, non-US citizenship, and English proficiency were significant predictors of negative outcomes in both the physical and mental health models, while Hispanic ethnicity (physical), native-birth (mental), and more serious home damage (cleanup) were significant predictors in one model each. The disaster had disproportionate negative health impacts on those who were more exposed, poorer, older, and with constrained resource-access. While a lack of US citizenship and His- panic ethnicity were associated with higher risks, being less acculturated (i.e., English-deficient, foreign-born) may have protected against health impacts. Keywords Flood disaster Á Physical and mental health Á Acculturation Á Hispanic Á El Paso (TX) Introduction Between 27 July and 7 September 2006, El Paso County (USA) received more than two times its average annual rainfall. An estimated 1,500 homes were damaged or destroyed, and dollar losses exceeded US$200 million. Flood impacts prompted a federal disaster declaration. While no loss of life was attributed to disaster, the event induced substantial health effects, particularly among people whose home sites were damaged. Physical health effects of flood disasters have been known to include injuries, allergies, disease outbreaks, diarrheal diseases, and respiratory conditions [1–10]. Participation in post- flood cleanup, repair and recovery activities can cause accidents, dehydration, heat exhaustion, allergic reactions, and asthma exacerbations [5, 11–13]. Traumatic experi- ences and post-flood displacement can cause mental health and stress-related disorders [14–18]. In the future, health impacts of floods will almost certainly worsen, as climate change is predicted to increase the occurrence of extreme flood events [19–22]. While the health effects of floods have been well-doc- umented, we lack adequate knowledge of health disparities associated with disasters, particularly in relation to racial/ ethnic minority and immigrant groups. The literatures on health disparities [23, 24] and disaster vulnerability [25– 27] suggest that the physical and mental health effects of disasters are likely to disproportionately burden groups of people in disadvantaged social positions (e.g., based on age, gender, socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic status, citizenship/immigration status, etc.). The majority of T. W. Collins (&) Á A. M. Jimenez Á S. E. Grineski Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 500 W University Ave, El Paso, TX 79968, USA e-mail: twcollins@utep.edu A. M. Jimenez e-mail: amjimenez3@miners.utep.edu S. E. Grineski e-mail: segrineski@utep.edu 123 J Immigrant Minority Health (2013) 15:415–426 DOI 10.1007/s10903-012-9626-2