Measuring the Storm: Methods of Quantifying Hurricane Exposure with Pregnancy Outcomes

Climate Change–Related Water Disasters’ Impact on Population Health

“…Communities with limited resources and those in lower income countries are more susceptible to water‐related disasters and have poorer outcomes after disasters (Alderman et al., ), and the growth of coastal populations increases the morbidity and mortality of cyclones and the impact they have on global regions (Doocy et al., ; Grabich et al., ). Warm and humid climates promote microbe growth and exaggerate water‐related and waterborne diseases in the area (Ahmed et al., ).…”

“…Susceptibility of individuals, communities, and countries was described in many of the articles. Risk factors that increase susceptibility to greater impact from CCRWDs include living in poverty, living in unstable dwellings, and lacking access to health care (Alderman et al, 2012;Bloetscher et al, 2016;Burton et al, 2016;Dressler, Allison, Broach, Smith, & Milsten, 2016;Grabich, Horney, Konrad, & Lobdell, 2016;Khan, Gruebner, & Kraemer, 2014;Lane et al, 2013;Rodriguez-Llanes, Ranjan-Dash, Mukhopadhyay, & Guha-Sapir, 2016;Schmeltz et al, 2013;Srikuta, Inmuong, Inmuong, & Bradshaw, 2015). There is a strong correlation between social and health vulnerability as measured by lack of income, percentage of minority residents, lower educational attainment, lack of English fluency, low take up of medical services, age, and disability status (Bloetscher et al, 2016).…”

“…Males are more susceptible to drowning (the largest cause of mortality from cyclones), and males are most susceptible to dying from cyclones (Doocy, Dick, Daniels, & Kirsch, 2013). Other factors that were associated with susceptibility include being female, being very young or elderly, living with a disability, being an ethnic minorities, lacking fluency in the country's primary language, having a female head of household, and having lower educational attainment (Abbas & Routray, 2014;Alderman et al, 2012;Bloetscher et al, 2016;Burton et al, 2016;Grabich et al, 2016;Khan et al, 2014;Lane et al, 2013;Rodriguez-Llanes et al, 2016;Schmeltz et al, 2013;Srikuta et al, 2015). Children are more susceptible to injuries, diarrheal diseases, and respiratory infections (Phung et al, 2014).…”

“…Individuals with ongoing health concerns or pre-existing conditions are susceptible to interruption of health care (Alderman et al, 2012) and may have exacerbations of their conditions during flood disasters (increase in cardiovascular disease during flood seasons in Canada during flood years; Vanasse et al, 2016). Studies identified susceptibility resulting from proximity to the hazard, such as living in burgeoning coastal communities (Grabich et al, 2016;Lane et al, 2013) or living close to industrial and waste incineration plants (Azuma et al, 2014).…”

“…Infrastructure that is not intended to hold rainwater is inadequate to properly protect individuals from the communicable threats of waste water from flooding and disasters (De Man et al, 2014;Dura et al, 2010). Specifically, disruptions to the healthcare system and infrastructure as a result of hurricanes and tropical storms may have deleterious effects on pregnancy and birth outcomes (Grabich et al, 2016).…”