Perspectives on the Health Effects of Hurricanes: A Review and Challenges

Hurricanes are devastating natural disasters which dramatically modify the physical landscape and alter the socio-physical and biochemical characteristics of the environment, thus exposing the affected communities to new environmental stressors, which persist for weeks to months after the hurricane....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 5; p. 2756
Main Authors: Waddell, Samantha L., Jayaweera, Dushyantha T., Mirsaeidi, Mehdi, Beier, John C., Kumar, Naresh
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.03.2021
MDPI
Subjects:
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Cyclonic Storms
Disasters
Environmental conditions
Flood damage
Floods
Food contamination & poisoning
Health care access
Health facilities
Hemodialysis
Hospitals
Humans
Hurricanes
Illnesses
Infectious diseases
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
Medical screening
Mold
Mortality
Pharmacy
Storm damage
United States > US
Puerto Rico
health impact persistence
time-lagged health effects of hurricanes
environmental stressors
hurricanes
health impacts
ISSN:1660-4601, 1661-7827, 1660-4601
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Hurricanes are devastating natural disasters which dramatically modify the physical landscape and alter the socio-physical and biochemical characteristics of the environment, thus exposing the affected communities to new environmental stressors, which persist for weeks to months after the hurricane. This paper has three aims. First, it conceptualizes potential direct and indirect health effects of hurricanes and provides an overview of factors that exacerbate the health effects of hurricanes. Second, it summarizes the literature on the health impact of hurricanes. Finally, it examines the time lag between the hurricane (landfall) and the occurrence of diseases. Two major findings emerge from this paper. Hurricanes are shown to cause and exacerbate multiple diseases, and most adverse health impacts peak within six months following hurricanes. However, chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and mental disorders, continue to occur for years following the hurricane impact.
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ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18052756