A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health reveals the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy on mortality risk among older adults, over a decade after the storm made landfall in 2012. Researchers found that people aged 65 and above who continued living in areas affected by the hurricane had a 9% higher risk of death from all causes.
Experts estimate that Hurricane Sandy caused $60 billion in damage, with record-breaking storm surge and flooding inundating New York and New Jersey coastlines. However, despite efforts to rebuild, the storm’s invisible impact on senior mortality risk endures.
Senior author Arnab Ghosh of Weill Cornell Medicine believes that hurricanes can have long-lasting impacts on individuals, including those related to mortality. “Hurricanes and associated flooding and damage can have long-lasting effects on people’s lives,” he said. These effects can be seen in terms of mortality, particularly among older adults.
To investigate the impact of Hurricane Sandy, Ghosh and his colleagues analyzed health data from nearly 300,000 residents aged 65 or older who were enrolled in Medicare and continued to reside in the same zip code area from 2013 to 2017. The analysis revealed that those living in flooded areas had a higher risk of death, with localized increases varying by region.
The researchers found that seniors living in affluent Connecticut fared worse than those living in New York City, despite having similar socioeconomic characteristics. Ghosh suspects this may be due to lack of hurricane preparedness in Connecticut. Hard-hit states like New Jersey and New York State did not show significant effects on senior mortality risk.
Ghosh hopes that the study’s findings will aid disaster relief and preparedness efforts at the local and federal levels, emphasizing the need for policies and infrastructure to address long-term health problems stemming from hurricanes.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/researchers-uncover-hurricane-sandys-hidden-death-toll-2000639495