Disaster’s Hidden Toll

 

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Credit NHK News – Fukushima evacuation zone March 2011

 

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With our short attention span, and the news media’s proclivity for moving on to the next big disaster or story, we often don’t closely follow the struggle to rebuild disaster stricken communities, which can take months or even years.

 

And for some caught in harm’s way, whose homes and businesses were destroyed - and loved ones lost - there is no going back to the way things used to be.

 

Not surprisingly, that can produce significant mental and physical health challenges for those affected.

 

Today we’ve a report out of Japan showing that the earthquake/tsunami of March 2011 that killed more than 20,000 people in Japan also had a long-term, largely unseen, effect on nursing home patients who were forced to evacuate to temporary facilities.

 

A study shows a 2.4 fold increase in deaths during the 8 months following the earthquake.  Deaths not caused by the quake, tsunami, or radiation release itself – but likely brought on by the stress of having to live in make-shift emergency shelters.

 

A unusually large number of these excess deaths were due to pneumonia or bronchitis, which many attribute to insufficient emergency shelters provided for the elderly and frail.

This report from the Ashasi Simbum.

 

Death rates spike among elderly evacuees from Fukushima

January 11, 2013

By YURI OIWA/ Staff Writer

Former residents of nursing homes near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant died at a higher rate than usual in 2011, a study has shown, likely because of the stress of evacuation and having to live in temporary accommodations such as draughty school gyms.

 

Researchers from the Fukushima Medical University studied reports submitted to the Fukushima prefectural government by 34 institutions for the elderly and found that the death rate over eight months in 2011 was 2.4 times that of the same period in 2010.

(Continue . . . )

 

A similar result was found in this study of nursing home evacuations from the University of South Florida.

 

The Effects of Evacuation on Nursing Home Residents With Dementia

Lisa M. Brown, PhD, David M. Dosa, MD, MPH, Kali Thomas, MA, Kathryn Hyer, PhD, MPP, Zhanlian Feng, PhD, Vincent Mor, PhD

Background: In response to the hurricane-related deaths of nursing home residents, there has been a steady increase in the number of facilities that evacuate under storm threat. This study examined the effects of evacuation during Hurricane Gustav on residents who were cognitively impaired.

 

Conclusions: The findings of this research reveal the deleterious effects of evacuation on residents with severe dementia. Interventions need to be developed and tested to determine the best methods for protecting this at risk population when there are no other options than to evacuate the facility.

 

 

We’ve looked at other post-disaster health impacts in the past, such as in Post Disaster Stress & Suicide Rates. One disaster discussed was a 1999 7.3 earthquake that struck in Chi-Chi, Nantou county in central Taiwan killing more than 2,300 people.

 

A study that subsequently appeared in the Taiwan Journal of Medicine (Disease-specific Mortality Associated with Earthquake in Taiwan Hsien-Wen Kuo, Shu-Jen Wu, Ming-Chu Chiu) found `a considerable increase in the number of suicides after the earthquake’.

 

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can often occur in the wake of a disaster or traumatic experience. Symptoms may include anxiety, depression, suicide and PTSD may even lead to drug and alcohol-related disorders.

 

Victims of personal violence, rescue and medical workers, victims of disasters, terrorism, physical or psychological trauma, and/or a combat zone are all at risk of suffering some level of PTSD.

 

In Psychological First Aid: The WHO Guide For Field Workers we looked at the need for, and a guide for providing psychological first aid (PFA) in a post-disaster environment.

 

The CDC also provides a website which contains a number of resources devoted to coping with disasters.

 

Coping With a Disaster or Traumatic Event

Trauma and Disaster Mental Health Resources

The effects of a disaster, terrorist attack, or other public health emergency can be long-lasting, and the resulting trauma can reverberate even with those not directly affected by the disaster. This page provides general strategies for promoting mental health and resilience. These strategies were developed by various organizations based on experiences in prior disasters.

 

As does the National Center For PTSD - including videos - on how to provide Psychological First Aid.

A reminder that a disaster’s impact can linger long after the story has fallen off the front pages, and that indirect casualties can follow months after the initial event.

»» Read More

A Worrisome Mid-Week Forecast

Source NOAA HPC

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The very last thing that the residents of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states need right now is another storm to deal with, but early indications from NOAA’s HPC (Hydrometeorological Prediction Center) suggest a Nor'easter could be in store by the middle of next week.

 

The two forecast models above show the model runs for November 7th and November 8th. 

 

They show a low pressure area – potentially a winter storm – moving up the eastern seaboard during that time frame.

 

While six days out is a long way off, and the forecast could certainly change, any deterioration in the weather will make the recovery efforts in New York, New Jersey, and surrounding areas that much more difficult.

 

 

PRELIMINARY EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION

NWS HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD

947 AM EDT THU NOV 01 2012

VALID 12Z MON NOV 05 2012 - 12Z THU NOV 08 2012

...NOR'EASTER POSSIBLE FOR MID-ATLANTIC/NEW ENGLAND STATES BY ELECTION DAY INTO NEXT THURSDAY...

<SNIP>

GUIDANCE STILL HAVE SOME TIMING/STRENGTH ISSUES BUT COMMONLY AGREE THAT DEEPER LOW DEVELOPMENT WOULD OCCUR MON-THU AS A FRONTAL WAVE OFF THE SOUTHEAST MOVES SLOWLY OFFSHORE AND UP OFF THE EAST COAST.
THIS WOULD BRING BEST ORGANIZED RAINS FROM THE ERN MID-ATLANTIC TO COASTAL NEW ENGLAND.

 

A TRACK IN THIS VEIN OFFERS POTENTIAL FOR
HEAVIER SNOWS ACROSS INTERIOR NEW ENGLAND WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY AS THE LOW WRAPS INLAND.  INCREASING WINDS ALONG COASTAL NEW ENGLAND (AND POSSIBLY THE COASTAL MID-ATLANTIC STATES IF A MORE WESTERLY
TRACK VERIFIES) TUESDAY ONWARD MAY LEAD TO SOME COASTAL FLOODING AND BEACH EROSION.

 

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THIS SYSTEM IS
EXPECTED TO BE MUCH WEAKER THAN HURRICANE SANDY AND PRODUCE IMPACTS MUCH LESS EXTREME AND MAINLY AWAY FROM THE REGION MOST
STRONGLY IMPACTED BY SANDY.

Obviously we’ll be watching these developments with keen interest, and the fervent hope that this storm fails to materialize.

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The Ripple Effect

 

 

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In a bit of a follow up to yesterday’s blog OECD Report: Future Global Shocks and one from last week called Estimating The Economic Impact Of A San Andreas Quake we’ve a report out of New Zealand (h/t Sally Furniss, Managing Editor of FluTrackers) on the nationwide economic impact of the three recent Christchurch earthquakes.

 

The article, by Marta Steeman of BusinessDay.co.nz, describes how 2/3rds of all businesses in New Zealand have been economically impacted by these quakes – even those well beyond the damaged areas.

 

Quakes affect two-thirds of NZ businesses

MARTA STEEMAN

Last updated 11:22 28/06/2011

The September and February earthquakes have affected nearly two-thirds of New Zealand businesses, according to a 2011 Grant Thornton international survey.

 

The survey indicated 18 per cent of businesses had suffered long-term impacts, 26 per cent medium-term impacts and 20 per cent a short-term hit.

(Continue . . . )

 

 

Businesses in Christchurch, at the center of the quake damage, are the most severely affected with 18% of business establishments destroyed.  Half of businesses cited a fall in demand for their goods and services as being the most significant impact.

 

Another concern - as we saw in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina – is that many skilled workers have left the Christchurch area since the quakes, further hindering the recovery.

 

But the repercussions have been felt across New Zealand.

 

While not in the category of a `future global shock’, the Christchurch quakes demonstrate how a local disaster can economically impact a much larger area.

 

Just as individuals and families need to be prepared for the immediate impact of a disaster, businesses need to have a robust and practical disaster plan that will keep them functioning during, or shortly after, a crisis.

 

While fortune 500 companies spend big bucks on disaster preparedness and recovery, Small businesses – those with fewer than 20 employees – make up nearly 90% of the companies (that have employees) in the United States.  

 

In 2004 they numbered over 5.2 million firms, which employed nearly 25 million people.In addition, there are nearly 22 million non-employer firms (as of 2007) – essentially self-employed individuals.

 

And these are the business enterprises that are the least likely to be prepared for a local, or global, disaster.

 

Ready.gov, the Small Business Administration,  and the American Red Cross are just a few of the agencies working to help small businesses prepare to survive the next disaster.

 

If you value your job, or your business, you owe it to yourself, and your employees to visit:

And

 

And to avail yourself of the free 123 point assessment survey at the American Red Cross’s Ready Rating Program.

 

 

And of course, National Preparedness Month isn’t just for agencies, families, and individuals.

 

It is for businesses as well.

 

 

Like death and taxes, disasters are inevitable. 

 

We may not always be able to prevent them, but we can be better prepared to deal with them when they happen.  

And that can make all the difference whether your business ultimately survives or fails.

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Post-Katrina Heart Attack Rates

 

 

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A fresh look at heart attack rates after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans shows - much to the surprise of researchers - that coronary events continue at a sharply elevated rate even four years after the flood waters receded.

 

In March of 2009, in a study led by Dr. Anand Irimpen - associate professor of clinical medicine at Tulane – it was disclosed that residents of New Orleans saw a 300% increase in heart attacks in the first 2 years after hurricane Katrina.

 

The study also found that these heart attack victims were more likely to receive angioplasty to reopen clogged coronary arteries, suggesting more severe coronary artery disease.

 

The Tulane University news NEW WAVE carried this report in 2009.

 

Post-Katrina Stress, Heart Problems Linked

March 30, 2009

(Excerpt)

There were 246 admissions for heart attacks, out of a total census of 11,282 patients, post-Katrina compared with 150 admissions out of a total 21,229 patients in the two years before the storm. In addition to a three-fold increase in heart attacks and a 120 percent increase in coronary interventions, the post-Katrina group had significantly higher prevalence of unemployment, lack of medical insurance, medication noncompliance, smoking, substance abuse, first-time hospitalization and people living in temporary housing. There were no significant differences in the racial, gender or age distribution of the two groups.

 

 

Today, an update to this study which shows that four years post-Katrina the effects continue, and that heart problems have extended well beyond the expected high risk cohorts.

 

 

Study: Katrina Took Toll on Hearts, Too

April 4, 2011

Keith Brannon
kbrannon@tulane.edu

The post-Katrina increase in heart attacks among New Orleans residents persisted even four years after the storm, according to a new study by researchers from Tulane University School of Medicine.

 

“To our surprise, the increase has occurred in the absence of any change in traditional risk factors — for example, age, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes,” says lead researcher Dr. Anand Irimpen.

(Continue . . . )

 

 

While we think of disasters as being short-term events, and recovery something that might take weeks or months, this study shows some of the long-term effects of a major disaster.

 

Unemployment, financial woes, ruined businesses, destroyed homes, busted plans, the loss of friends and loved ones (through death or simply moving away), and uncertain futures all contribute to ongoing stress and can promote poor health habits.

 

Of course, there is no reason to believe that these effects are limited to the residents of New Orleans or the Gulf Coast survivors of Katrina. 

 

The quake & tsunami ravaged residents of Northern Japan are probably in store for similar effects, with the added stress of long-term, unknown, and invisible radiation exposure added to the mix.

 

Similarly, those who live in Haiti, New Zealand, Chile, or any place else recently struck by natural disasters continue to deal with enormous physical, emotional, financial, and sociological impacts.

 

The burden of a disaster isn’t over just because floodwaters recede, buildings are replaced or repaired, and relief workers have moved on to the next scene.

 

All of which suggests that a greater emphasis on social and psychological healing may be needed in the aftermath of a major disaster.

 

Disasters are always heartbreaking.

 

Now we have evidence to show that it is literally true.

»» Read More