Study: The Hidden Health Costs Of Hurricanes

A Stanford University study found that hurricanes have a hidden health cost. Hurricanes and tropical storms can cause a surge of deaths up to 15 years after they pass through. “In any given month, people are dying earlier than they would have if the storm hadn’t hit their community,” Solomon Hsiang of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability said. “There’s all these cascades of effects where cities are rebuilding or households are displaced or social networks are broken.” Researchers analyzed data from 501 storms that hit the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between 1930 and 2015 and found that these cyclones have contributed to up to 5.2 million deaths in the United States. (Study Finds)