Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Direct and indirect mortality in Florida during the 2004 hurricane season

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Biometeorology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that natural disasters, and hurricanes in particular, have led to more deaths than those usually documented in short post-storm surveys. Such indirect deaths, thought to be related to dietary, stress or pre-existing medical conditions, can exceed the number of direct deaths and may persist for weeks or even months beyond the event itself. In the present study, cumulative sum of deviations plots are used to quantify the number of direct and indirect deaths resulting from Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne that made landfall in Florida in 2004. Results suggest that there was an elevated mortality for up to 2 months following each storm, resulting in a total of 624 direct and indirect deaths attributable to the storm. Trauma-related deaths that can be associated directly with the storm account for only ∼4% of the total storm-related mortality, while indirect mortality accounts for most storm-related deaths. Specifically, a large percentage of the elevated mortality was associated with heart (34%) and cancer-related deaths (19%), while diabetes (5%) and accident-related deaths (9%) account for a smaller but still significant percentage of the elevated mortality. The results further suggest that the elevated mortality was the result of additional deaths that would not have otherwise occurred within that 5 month period, and not simply a clustering of deaths that were inevitable between 1 August and 31 December 2004. The elevated mortality identified in this study is significantly greater than the official count of 31 direct and 113 indirect deaths resulting from the four hurricanes combined. This suggests a need for improved mortality counts and surveillance in order to better evaluate and identify effective prevention policies, and to identify preventable deaths.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3 a–f
Fig. 4 a–f
Fig. 5 a–f

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramson D, Stehling-Ariza T, Garfield R, Redlener I (2008) Prevalence and predictors of mental health distress post-Katrina: Findings from the Gulf Coast child and family health study. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armenian HK, Melkonian AK, Hovanesian AP (1998) Long term mortality and morbidity related to degree of damage following the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Am J Epidemiol 148(11):1077–1084

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arguez A, Elsner JB (2001) Trends in US tropical cyclone mortality during the 20th century. Florida Geographer 32:28–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter PJ, Möller I, Spencer T, Spence RJ, Tapsell S (2001) Flooding and climate change. Health effects of climate change. Section 4.6. UK Department of Health Document

  • Bennet G (1970) Bristol floods 1968—controlled survey disaster. BMJ 3:454–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blake ES, Rappaport EN, Landsea CW (2007) The deadliest, costliest, and most intense United States tropical cyclones from 1851 to 2006 (and other frequently requested hurricane facts). US Department of Commerce, National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL. NOAA Technical Memorandum TPC-5. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf

  • Borden KA, Cutter SL (2008) Spatial patterns of natural hazards mortality in the United States. Int J Health Geogr 7(64):1–13. doi:10.1186/1476-072X-7_64

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourque LB, Siegel JM, Kano M, Wood MM (2006) Weathering the storm: The impact of hurricanes on physical and mental health. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 604:129–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardona OD (2003) The need for rethinking the concepts of vulnerability and risk from an holistic perspective: a necessary review and criticism for effective risk management. In: Bankoff G, Frerks G, Hilhorst D (eds) Mapping vulnerability: disasters, development and people. Earthscan, London, pp 37–51

    Google Scholar 

  • CDC (2004) Rapid assessment of the needs and health status of older adults after Hurricane Charley- Charlotte, DeSoto, and Hardee counties, Florida, August 27–31, 2004. MMWR 36:837–840

    Google Scholar 

  • Combs DL, Parrish RG, McNabb SJN, Davis JH (1996) Deaths related to Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Louisiana, 1992. Int J Epidemiol 25(3):537–544

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Combs DL, Quenomoen LE, Parrish RG, Davis JH (1999) Assessing disaster-attributed mortality: development and application of a definition and classification matrix. Int J Epidemiol 28:1124–1129

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis RE, Knappenberger PC, Michaels PJ, Novicoff WM (2003) Changing heat-related mortality in the United States. Environ Health Perspect 111(14):1712–1718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dominici F, Levy JI, Louis TA (2005) Methodological challenges and contributions in disaster epidemiology. Epidemiol Rev 27:9–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fayard GM (2009) Fatal work injuries involving natural disasters, 1992–2006. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 3:201–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Florida Office of Economic & Demographic Research (2010) Population Based Information. http://edr.state.fl.us/population.htm.

  • Forrester MB (2009) Impact of Hurricane Ike on Texas Poison Control Center Calls. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 3:136–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galea S, Nandi A, Vlahov D (2005) The epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. Epidemiol Rev 27:78–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gautam S, Menachem J, Srivastav SK, Delafontaine P, Irimpen A (2009) Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the incidence of acute coronary syndrome at a primary angioplasty center in New Orleans. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 3:144–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grubb F (1969) Procedures for detecting outlying observations in samples. Technometrics 11:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrickson LA, Vogt RL (1996) Mortality of Kauai residents in the 12-month period following Hurricane Iniki. Am J Epidemiol 144(2):188–191

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jani AA, Fierro M, Kiser S, Ayala-Simms V, Darby DH, Juenker S, Storey R, Reynolds C, Marr J, Miller G (2006) Hurricane Isabel-related mortality—Virginia, 2003. J Public Health Manage Pract 12:97–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonkman SN, Kelman I (2005) An analysis of the causes and circumstances of flood disaster deaths. Disasters 29:75–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph DA, Wingo PA, King JB, Pollack LA, Richardson LC, Wu X, Chen V, Austin HD, Rogers D, Cook J (2009) Use of state cancer surveillance data to estimate the cancer burden in disaster affected areas- Hurricane Katrina, 2005. Prehosp Disaster Med 22:282–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalkstein LS, Davis RE (1989) Weather and human mortality: An evaluation of demographic and interregional responses in the United States. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 79(1):44–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW, Colten CE, Laska S, Leatherman SP (2006) Reconstruction of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: a research perspective. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103(40):14653–14660

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelman I (2004) Philosophy of flood fatalities. FloodRiskNet Newsletter 1:3–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Knabb RD, Rhome JR, Brown DP (2006) Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL.[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL122005_Katrina.pdf]

  • Lavie CJ, Gerber TC, Lanier WL (2009) Hurricane Katrina: the infarcts beyond the storm. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 3:131–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madamala K, Campbell CR, Hsu EB, Hsieh YH, James J (2009) Characteristics of physician relocation following Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 1:21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasch RJ, Brown DP, Blake ES (2005) Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Charley. US Department of Commerce, National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL. [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2004charley.shtml]

  • Phillips DP, Jarvinen JR, Abramson IS, Phillips RR (2004) Cardiac mortality is higher around Christmas and New Year’s than at any other time. Circulation 110:3781–3788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rappaport EN (2000) Loss of life in the United States associated with recent Atlantic tropical cyclones. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 81(9):2065–2073

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ragan P, Schulte J, Nelson SJ, Jones KT (2008) Mortality surveillance 2004 to 2005: Florida hurricane-related deaths. Am J Forensic Med Pathol 27(2):148–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Riebsame WE, Diaz HF, Moses T, Price M (1986) The social burden of weather and climate hazards. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 67(11):1378–1388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma AJ, Weiss EC, Young SL, Stephens K, Ratard R, Straif-Bourgeois S, Sokol TM, Vranken P, Rubin CH (2007) Chronic disease and related conditions at emergency treatment facilities in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2:27–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shultz JM, Russell J, Espeinel Z (2005) Epidemiology of tropical cyclones: the dynamics of disaster, disease and development. Epidemiol Rev 27:21–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephens KU, Grew D, Chin K, Kadetz P, Greenough G, Burkle FM, Robinson SL, Franklin ER (2007) Excess mortality in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: a preliminary report. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 1(1):21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van den Berg B, Grievink L, Yzermans J, Lebret E (2005) Medically unexplained symptoms in the aftermath of disasters. Epidemiol Rev 27:92–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitman S, Good G, Donoghue ER, Benbow N, Shou W, Mou S (1997) Mortality in Chicago attributed to the July 1995 heat wave. Am J Public Health 87:1515–1518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yzermans CJ, Donker GA, Kerssens JJ, Dirkzwager AJE, Soeteman RJH, ten Veen PMH (2005) Health problems of victims before and after disaster: a longitudinal study in general practice. Int J Epidemiol 34:820–826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zachria A, Patel B (2006) Deaths related to Hurricane Rita and mass evacuation. Chest 130:134S

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Funding for this study was provided from the National Weather Service Program Office (Award Number NA04NWS4680010) through the Florida Hurricane Alliance Research Program led by Stephen Leatherman of Florida International University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Studies, University of West Florida, 11000 University Parkway, Pensacola, FL, 32514, USA

    Nathan McKinney & Klaus Meyer-Arendt

  2. Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, 810 O&M Building, College Station, TX, 77843-3147, USA

    Chris Houser

Authors
  1. Nathan McKinney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chris Houser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Klaus Meyer-Arendt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chris Houser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McKinney, N., Houser, C. & Meyer-Arendt, K. Direct and indirect mortality in Florida during the 2004 hurricane season. Int J Biometeorol 55, 533–546 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-010-0370-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-010-0370-9

Keywords