Injury Deaths Related to Hurricane Sandy, New York City, 2012

Abstract

Risk communication should focus on older adults, males, and those living in evacuation zones; more evacuation assistance is necessary. NYC's fatal injury profile can inform future coastal storm planning efforts. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:378-385).

Mortality Reporting and Rumor Generation: An Assessment of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication following Hurricane María in Puerto Rico

“…This expectation of having timely and accurate hurricane-related death counts immediately following a catastrophic disaster represents a failure among scientists and communicators to convey the inherent superiority of excess mortality estimation over "body counts" in complex disaster scenarios where surveillance systems and death certification processes are disrupted (Checchi & Roberts, 2008). Currently, there is little to guide communicators in making this distinction apparent to public audiences; while there is scientific literature related to mortality surveillance (Choudhary, 2012;Farag et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2017;Rocha et al, 2017;Seil et al, 2016) and documenting cause of death (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters [CRED], 2016;Lakkireddy et al, 2004;Phillips et al, 2014;Wexelman et al, 2013), there is a paucity of studies exploring the specific concept of communicating disaster mortality to the public. There is no literature base that examines how death counts from a disaster should be communicated to the media, how to best explain information gaps that are common following disasters, how death counts may evolve post-disaster, or how to explain the science behind excess death estimates and what we can or cannot infer from these estimates.…”

Vulnerability of Older Adults in Disasters: Emergency Department Utilization by Geriatric Patients After Hurricane Sandy

“…18,19 Nearly half (48% of 52) of New York City (NYC) Hurricane Sandy deaths occurred in individuals aged 65 years and older. 20 Flooding and power outages coincided with Hurricane Sandy's landfall on October 29, 2012, posing complex public safety challenges to more than 1.5 million people and affecting approximately 30 nursing homes and adult facilities in Queens and Brooklyn. 21,22 A single-site analysis of emergency department (ED) visits and a preliminary analysis of citywide NYC hospitals after Hurricane Sandy suggested disproportionate increases in hospitalizations in very old patients (85 years and older) compared to older adult cohorts (65 years and older) due to hospital and outpatient clinic closures.…”

Storm Impact and Depression Among Older Adults Living in Hurricane Sandy–Affected Areas

“…8 There were 52 Sandy-related fatalities reported with nearly half (48%) of the deaths among the older adult population. 9 Two-thirds of homes damaged by the storm were located outside the original NYC flood zones, prompting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to redefine the flood zone boundaries. 10 In addition, the urban geography of NYC is such that many immigrant, low-income, and older adult populations live in apartment buildings on the coast.…”