Storms and Safety: Supporting Children’s Mental Health During Hurricane Season

By Rose Degenhardt, MA, RCT, CCC Founder, Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc.

As hurricane season peaks here in Nova Scotia, the focus is often on go-bags, flashlights, and bottled water.  But there’s another layer of emergency preparedness that deserves equal attention—one that’s easy to overlook:

Our children’s emotional and mental health.

When natural disasters strike whether wildfires, hurricanes, or floods, the impact on children isn’t just physical. The fear, confusion, and sudden loss of control can leave lasting emotional wounds, especially for children who already live with trauma, family instability, or disrupted attachment.

Two Years Later: The Wildfires Still Echo

When wildfires swept through Nova Scotia two years ago, the community felt it deeply.  But as therapists, we noticed that the emotional aftershocks rippled long after the flames were put out.

At Venture Counselling, we supported children who:

• Became hypervigilant after hearing sirens or smelling smoke

• Had nightmares about being separated from their families

• Became overwhelmed in crowded, unfamiliar spaces

• Regressed emotionally and clung to caregivers

Disaster disrupts more than just physical safety, it tears at the emotional fabric children rely on to feel safe, seen, and soothed.

When "Safe" Spaces Don't Feel Safe

For some children, evacuation or crisis sheltering can trigger complex trauma reactions.  Imagine being a child forced to leave home, then arriving at a busy community space, only to discover that your biological parent, who you no longer live with, is there too.

This might not seem like a big deal to the adults managing logistics, but for a child with a history of abuse, neglect, or separation, this moment can be emotionally paralyzing.

I remember it clearly.

I was in foster care, shopping at the local mall or arriving for an appointment at Social Development.  More than once, I looked up and saw my biological parent in the same space, sometimes even in the waiting room.

My heart leapt and dropped at the same time.

Do I go say hi?  Am I allowed?  Will someone be upset if I don’t?  What if I do?  What if they ignore me?

Loyalty conflict, confusion, fear, guilt, hope—all in one moment.

These are the unspoken emotional crises children face in emergencies—and it’s our job to be aware and ready to support them.

Play Therapy and Emotional Preparedness

(Based on Shelby, et al., 2004)

Children experience trauma differently than adults.  They feel it in their bodies, behaviours, and imaginations.  That’s why play therapy is such a powerful way to help children regulate, express, and heal after a disaster or disruption.

Here are some key tools therapists, and even caregivers can use:

Teaching Self-Soothing and Relaxation

Play therapists can teach children how to calm their bodies in fun, safe ways:

• Bubble or pinwheel breathing (deep breaths through play)

• “Tin man to rag doll” muscle relaxation (tense up, then go limp)

• Drawing peaceful or happy places

• Mutual storytelling with hopeful endings

• Caregiver-led soothing routines: singing, rocking, hand or back massages

These practices help rebuild a child’s internal sense of calm, even when the outside world feels chaotic.

 Strengthening Healthy Social Support

After a disaster, children may withdraw from others or act out in socially disruptive ways.  They may not know how to ask for comfort—or fear they won’t get it.

Play therapy can help by:

• Role-playing how to ask for help from trusted adults or peers

• Making “support coupons” a child can hand to someone when they need help

• Creating paper doll support chains, with each doll labeled as a safe person (e.g., “Mom,” “Teacher,” “Uncle Jon”)

  
  

After Hurricane Katrina, some children would demand playtime from adults using anger or shouting.  Therapists helped them learn how to ask calmly and assertively—rebuilding a sense of relational safety.

 Restoring Hope and Meaning

When a child loses their home, school, or community, they often lose their framework for safety and order.  Play therapy helps rebuild that framework through:

• Imaginative community rebuilding (e.g., toy towns, drawing “new schools”)

• Creating stories, poems, or songs that express healing and resilience

• Engaging in service projects, like thank-you cards for firefighters or painting rocks for a memorial garden

After the tsunami in Sri Lanka, therapists guided children in collecting natural objects from the beach, reclaiming the very environment that had scared them.  Hope was literally rebuilt from the ashes and waves.

What Families Can Do Now

Here are four ways you can help your child emotionally prepare for emergencies:

Pack a Comfort Kit

Include:

• A small plush toy

• A family photo

• A pinwheel or bottle of bubbles

• Crayons and a notepad

• A written list of “safe people” with photos

 Normalize the Conversation

Talk about your emergency plan calmly:

“If we ever need to leave quickly because of a storm, we’ll go together.  We’ve got this.”

 Create Emotional Safety Plans

For kids in care or children with complex family dynamics, prepare them for the possibility of emotionally charged encounters.  Rehearse what to do and whom to tell if they see someone who causes them confusion or distress.

 Seek Support from Trauma-Informed Professionals

At Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc., we’re here to help families through transitions, trauma, and unexpected change.  Our child therapists and play-based clinicians are specially trained to help children build coping tools, understand their feelings, and reconnect to safety.

Final Thoughts

Storms are unpredictable! But the emotional tools we give our children don’t have to be.

Let’s pack more than snacks and flashlights this hurricane season.  Let’s make space for emotional preparedness, self-soothing skills, safe relationships, and the kind of hope that helps children weather even the hardest storms.

Because safety is more than shelter!

It’s knowing someone sees you, believes you, and will walk through the storm with you.

Weathering the storms—inside and out.

With care and courage,

Rose Degenhardt, MA, RCT, CCC

Child & Family Therapist | Founder, Venture Counselling & Therapy Inc.