Health concerns and perceptions of central and coastal New Jersey residents in the 100days following Superstorm Sandy

Abstract

Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey 29–30 October 2012 (80 km/hr winds), and many residents were evacuated, were without power for days to several weeks, and suffered property damages or lost their homes. The objective of this study was to understand health concerns within 100 days of this devastating storm that might improve recovery, future preparedness, and resilience. We conducted a survey of New Jersey residents in central (N = 407) and shore communities (n=347) about health concerns before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy. People were interviewed at public places, town hall and FEMA meetings, health and university centers, and other gathering places. 47 % of shore and 13 % of central Jersey respondents evacuated. Both populations were concerned about agents of destruction, survival needs, and possessions before and during the storm, but they were mainly concerned about survival needs thereafter. During the storm, medical issues were the greatest concern for shore respondents (23 %) vs secure and safe food and water (29 %) for central respondents. Medical concerns increased after the storm. In the future, 42 % of shore respondents would prepare more, while 51 % of central residents would buy more supplies; 20 % (shore) and 11 % (central) would heed future evacuation warnings. Before Sandy many residents did not heed warnings and evacuation orders, but worried about property damage, while during and after their major concerns were personal and community health. Prevention of future health and property impacts could be enhanced by stronger evacuation enforcement, better preparedness information, greater attention to the possibility of prolonged power outages, and more attention to medical needs during and after a storm.

Perception, Knowledge and Behaviors Related to Typhoon: A Cross Sectional Study among Rural Residents in Zhejiang, China

“…This result was similar with the previous study in New Jersey which indicated that the greatest concerns of residents before the typhoon was possessions and property damage, while during and after the disaster, their major concerns were personal health [34]. In our study, only about half of participants affirmatively express that typhoon might pose threat to their health (50.7%) or life (42.2%), and less than half of the participants (37.4%) expressed a fear of typhoons.…”

Ecological concerns following Superstorm Sandy: stressor level and recreational activity levels affect perceptions of ecosystem

“…General Linear Models were developed to examine the factors that accounted for variation in the overall ratings for the four main concern categories (including ecological services); independent variables were total days recreating, location, stress-or level, distance to the ocean, age, sex, ethnicity, education, days without electricity and home repairs needed. This paper addresses concerns about ecological and environmental issues; specific health effects data and information sources can be found elsewhere (Burger et al 2013; Burger and Gochfeld 2014). …”

Concerns and perceptions immediately following Superstorm Sandy: ratings for property damage were higher than for health issues

“…Specific health effects data and information sources can be found elsewhere (Burger et al 2013; Burger and Gochfeld 2014). The entire questionnaire including several types of information: (1) storm effects (property damage, flooding, evacuation, and loss of power), (2) general concerns before, during, and after Sandy , (3) information sources (used and trusted), (4) health concerns, (5) renovations/repairs and mold, (6) rating of a list of concerns, and (7) demographics.…”