Hurricane Rita, closely following Katrina in 2005, was costly physically, emotionally and financially. Rita was the largest evacuation of its kind in history, with many on the road over 24 hours. In Jefferson County, Texas, which was directly hit, virtually every school was damaged and closed one month or more. Many homes remained destroyed a year later. The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the impact of the aftermath of natural disasters on the physical and mental health of youth and their educators 6-9 months later. In Spring, 2006, 93 teachers, school nurses and mental health professionals at 12 middle and high schools in Jefferson county completed written questionnaires to ascertain their observations of: 1) Current student behavioral needs; 2) behavioral changes after the hurricane; 3) adequacy of current efforts; and 4) educator stress. Over 75% of students were reported to have a lot/some of the following needs: Truancy/tardiness (88.2%), distractibility/jumpiness/lack of concentration (88%), fighting/violence (87%), substance use - alcohol or other drugs (84.7%), disengagement/apathy (81.4%), and tobacco use (78.6%). Over 50% noted that distractibility/jumpiness/lack of concentration, fighting/violence and truancy/tardiness had increased. Follow-up assistance efforts were deemed to be inadequate for: Distractibility/jumpiness/lack of concentration, disengagement/apathy, and teen pregnancy prevention. Not enough counselors were reported available to accommodate student mental health needs. Educators reported great personal stress as well. Most (70.8%) reported a lot/some stress in responding to the post-hurricane reactions of their students. Few (28.1%) teachers received training for helping their students in the aftermath of the hurricane; predominantly counselors received training. That training was focused primarily on the period shortly after the hurricane. Implications for educators, administrators and mental health professionals will be discussed.Keyword(s): health education K-12, health education college/univ, research