WEDNESDAY, Oct. 2, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- As the southeastern United States begins to recover from Helene's devastation, a new study suggests the health impact of major storms can linger for over a decade. So far, more than 120 people across six states have already been confirmed dead in Helene's aftermath, although that number could rise much higher as rescue efforts continue.
Now, a team from Stanford University reports the death toll over the much longer term could be in the thousands. Even years later, “in any given month, people are dying earlier than they would have if the storm hadn’t hit their community,” explained senior study author Solomon Hsiang . “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," said Hsiang, professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability. Overall, the researchers estimate that anywhere between 7,000 and 11,000 excess deaths can be attributed to the years-long aftermath of a major tropical storm or hurricane. Adding up the damage, major storms have since 1930 contributed to the deaths of anywhere from 3.
6 million and 5.2 million Americans, the team reported Oct. 2 in the journal Nature .
That exceeds the combined number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, infectious diseases or battle deaths in wars during the same time period, Hsi.