This post was updated Jan. 26 at 11:20 p.m.

Vickie Mays is no stranger to disaster, having provided support to the New Orleans community following Hurricane Katrina.

The health services and psychology professor said she was struck by the utter devastation of the ongoing wildfires – which is why she worried for students’ mental health as they returned to campus this week. Some students lost their homes to the fires, prompting UCLA to share mental health resources with the student body.

The fires began Jan. 7 and have spread across over 50,000 acres, according to the California Department of Fires and Forestry website, or Cal Fire.

[Related: THE BRUIN’S FULL COVERAGE OF THE LA COUNTY FIRES]

“It’s a very interesting phenomenon, because in Katrina, it was a flood,” Mays said. “When you went back, you could see things.”

The fires are different, Mays said, in that they reduced homes and neighborhoods completely to ash.

“Fire is very destructive when it comes to being able to gather things that you wish you had taken,” she said.

The natural disaster is projected to be among the costliest in U.S. history, with over 16,000 structures destroyed, according to the Cal Fire website.

Following a week of remote instruction due to unprecedented wildfire conditions, students returned to in-person classes Jan. 21. Many Bruins may still be processing the impact of the disaster as they return to campus, said Melissa Brymer, the director of terrorism and disaster programs at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.

Difficulty concentrating following disruptive events is normal, Brymer said.

“You may need to study for a shorter period of time, and may then need to take a break – get up, walk around, hydrate, maybe send a text or look at a meme,” she said. “We might have to just step away from what we’re doing for a moment and then come back to it.”

Given the emotionally taxing media students are exposed to following the wildfires – including graphic videos of structures ablaze and stories of loss – students may struggle to strike a balance between staying informed and overconsuming stressful news, Brymer said. Taking intentional breaks from this media is important, she added.

“Being informed is really important, but also, our well-being is important,” she said.

Staying up to date with the media was critical for knowing if you were under threat, Brymer said. Over the course of the past week, 1,149 students and 3,348 faculty members were under evacuation warnings or mandatory evacuation orders, according to a Jan. 15 post on Bruins Safe Online.

[Related: LA residents seek emergency notifications, apps to remain alert during wildfires]

Although campus was never directly under an evacuation order or warning, an estimated 90% to 95% of students left the Hill in wake of the fires, said Undergraduate Students Association Council President Adam Tfayli in a Jan. 13 written statement.

[Related: Students host other Bruins in hometowns during Southern California fires]

Impacts on mental health will vary from person to person, said Merritt Schreiber, a child psychologist at UCLA. Prior difficult lifetime experiences, what happened to a person during the fires and what they have encountered since the fires, affect a person’s response.

“When we encounter these situations, it’s expectable to be distressed about them,” Schreiber said. “Concern is when the distress does not abate, when it plateaus, when it’s enduring over an extended period of time.”

It may be important to seek help, said Nicole Presley Green, the senior executive director of Student Resilience and Mental Health Services at UCLA. Students can speak to well-being coordinators informally at the UCLA Resilience in Your Student Experience Center in Lu Valle Commons, she added.

UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services is operating daily in person and online, Green said. Fee waivers can be granted to students without a UC Student Health Insurance Plan, she added.

“People should not feel like the fee or session limits or anything are a barrier to engaging in CAPS services,” Green said. “We want to get people connected and want people to use CAPS.”

Getting back into a routine is also a significant part of recovery, Green said. Students should focus on getting adequate rest, processing their feelings and enjoying hobbies, she added.

Blanca Orellana, a clinical child psychologist at UCLA, said finding ways to support the community is also important amid the recovery process.

“I think that we’ve seen a lot of humanity and kindness, and a lot of people coming together as a result,” she said. “It seems to me like the vast majority of individuals are looking to get involved in some way.”

[Related: Bruins volunteer, support Los Angeles community amid wildfires]

Students may feel apprehensive about the future given the context of potentially worsening climate conditions, Schreiber said, adding that the best way to combat this fear is to be prepared.

“The time to learn about evacuation in LA or evacuation on campus is not during the evacuation,” Schreiber said.

Mays said she encourages students to enroll in a new course on climate and mental health called Climate Resilience, offered in spring quarter. The course is designed for students interested in climate science to practice self-care, she added.

Outside of the classroom, students can also affect the future of the environment in tangible ways, Brymer said. Becoming involved in climate advocacy can allay fears of the future as students find areas they can help control, she added.

“I’ve heard so many beautiful ideas from so many UCLA students of things that we could be doing to better LA, to better UCLA,” Brymer said. “I hope that they really channel these ideas and put them into action.”