U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm.
U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm. Understanding why could help minimize future deaths from hazards fueled by climate change.
New research reveals hurricanes and tropical storms in the United States cause a surge of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm hits.
Official government statistics record only the number of individuals killed during these storms, which are together called “tropical cyclones.” Usually, these direct deaths, which average 24 per storm in official estimates, occur through drowning or some other type of trauma. But the new analysis, published Oct. 2 in Nature, reveals a larger, hidden death toll in hurricanes’ aftermath.
“In any given month, people are dying earlier than they would have if the storm hadn’t hit their community,” said senior study author Solomon Hsiang, a professor of environmental social sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “A big storm will hit, and there’s all these cascades of effects where cities are rebuilding or households are displaced or social networks are broken. These cascades have serious consequences for public health.”
Read more at Stanford University
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