Devastating tropical storm Around 180 dead after "Helene" - and thousands could follow
Cleaning up after the storm: "Helene" has left immense damage in many places in the south-east of the USA.
Image: dpa
Long lines at gas stations: Many of those affected urgently need fuel due to the power outage.
Image: dpa
Tropical storm "Helene" left deaths and devastation in its wake. Thousands more deaths could follow.
Image: dpa
If storm victims in the USA have to spend a lot of money on their homes, they may have less money for health insurance - with consequences for their health.
Image: dpa
Cleaning up after the storm: "Helene" has left immense damage in many places in the south-east of the USA.
Image: dpa
Long lines at gas stations: Many of those affected urgently need fuel due to the power outage.
Image: dpa
Tropical storm "Helene" left deaths and devastation in its wake. Thousands more deaths could follow.
Image: dpa
If storm victims in the USA have to spend a lot of money on their homes, they may have less money for health insurance - with consequences for their health.
Image: dpa
Tropical storm "Helene" has claimed numerous lives in the USA. Current research shows: The long-term consequences of such storms could be even more deadly than the direct effects.
03.10.2024, 00:00
dpa
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- The tropical storm made landfall in the south-east of the USA last week with incredible force.
- According to the latest count by US broadcaster CNN, at least 180 people have died as a result of the storm.
- The hurricane could result in increased mortality in the affected areas for years to come.
Several days after the devastation caused by tropical storm "Helene", the death toll in the south-east of the USA continues to rise - and according to new scientific findings, there could even be significantly more victims. According to a recent count by US broadcaster CNN, at least 180 people have died as a result of the storm so far, while NBC reported at least 175 deaths.
According to a study published in the renowned journal "Nature", such tropical cyclones usually cause increased mortality in the affected areas for years to come.
Soldiers help with food and water supplies
US President Joe Biden announced the deployment of 1,000 soldiers to the disaster area. The military personnel stationed in the state of North Carolina are to help deliver food, water and other essential goods to the affected region, according to the White House.
The storm, which made landfall in northwest Florida last week as the second-highest category hurricane and then weakened somewhat as it moved north, left behind immense destruction in six states. By midday on Wednesday (local time), more than one million households were still without power, including almost half a million in the state of South Carolina alone, according to data from the US website PowerOutage.
Solomon Hsiang from Stanford University and Rachel Young from the University of California in Berkeley, both located in the USA, have been investigating how people's health could be affected in the long term. The researchers analyzed data relating to 501 storms from the years 1930 to 2015. According to computer models, the storms led to 3.6 to 5.7 million deaths during this period, which would not have occurred without the natural disasters.
Less health insurance and hospitals as possible reasons
Although the two emphasize that they cannot make any statements about the causes of excess mortality, they do put forward several hypotheses. For example, the disasters could cause people to lose their jobs and therefore their health insurance. Or they might spend money on house repairs that they had actually put aside for old age.
The state could also lack money for medical facilities due to infrastructure repairs. The exact causes should be determined in further investigations, Hsiang and Young demand.
The analysis showed that a hurricane leads to an average of 7170 to 11,430 additional deaths, depending on the model assumptions. This is considerably more than the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates for direct deaths per hurricane: According to this, an average of 24 people died directly, for example from drowning.
Assessment from Germany: plausible study
The researchers also found that the wind speed of storms had not increased between 1930 and 2015. However, there have been significantly more tropical cyclones since 2001. "We assume that tropical cyclones will become potentially more dangerous and destructive due to climate change," emphasized Young.
Hajo Zeeb from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology in Bremen considers the approach of the two US researchers to be plausible: "They describe their approach in great detail and transparently." The economic correlations and health consequences have probably hardly been investigated to date because they require large amounts of data and complex calculations.
People should be relieved
As an immediate reaction to storm Helene, the governor of the state of Georgia, Brian Kemp, temporarily suspended the gasoline tax by decree on Tuesday. This is intended to relieve the burden on communities that are currently completely dependent on fuel to supply their homes and necessary equipment with electricity, Kemp wrote.
US President Biden made his way to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday to get an idea of the situation in particularly affected areas. His Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, is planning a visit to Georgia. Her Republican opponent Donald Trump has already been to Georgia.