Tropical cyclones—also known as hurricanes, typhoons or storms, depending on their location and intensity—are among the world’s most destructive and costly climate disasters.
Tropical cyclones—also known as hurricanes, typhoons or storms, depending on their location and intensity—are among the world’s most destructive and costly climate disasters.
Their direct physical impacts, such as injuries and drowning, are well known.
But what about the wider health effects in the days and weeks after a cyclone? As health systems are disrupted and other issues arise, what happens next?
We analyzed 14.8 million deaths in 1,356 communities around the world that had 217 tropical cyclones between them.
In our paper published today in the BMJ, we show what, and who, we should be focusing on if we are to prevent more people dying after these devastating events.
Each year, tropical cyclones affect more than 20 million people and rack up around US$51.5 billion in damage globally.
In recent years, these cyclones have been getting stronger and lasting longer. They are expected to become more intense as our climate warms.
As well as wanting to know the wider health effects of tropical cyclones, we wanted to find out how these differ between countries and territories.
For instance, how do the wider health effects differ in countries such as Australia, which usually see fewer cyclones, compared to cyclone « hot zones », such as those in East and Southeast Asia, or the eastern coast of the United States?
Understanding these differences is important given the shifting behavior of tropical cyclones in a changing climate. This may include a greater risk in historically less-affected regions.
Our research team collected data from 1,356 communities across Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand between 2000 and 2019.
