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Subscribe to RSSHurricane Sandy is already stressing millions of people living on the eastern seaboard, but it’s not likely to kill anywhere near the number of people who would have died in such a storm 100 years ago. That’s because weather and emergency officials can get people out of the worst flood zones in time.
So what are the most likely 21st century causes of death? Carbon monoxide poisoning often leads the list, as people turn to grills and gas stoves in power outages. Flash flooding and storm surges are also big killers.
Each hurricane is different and while a large percentage of deaths are from drowning, it’s not necessarily always the main cause. Heart attacks can also kill people, especially the elderly.
Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, was the deadliest hurricane this century. Officials tried to evacuate residents in low-lying areas, but several hundred people died in Louisiana when levees failed and floodwaters poured in, quickly and silently, as people slept.
Louisiana’s chief health official, Dr. Raoult Ratard, and colleagues counted 971 deaths in Louisiana alone that could be directly blamed on Katrina. Forty percent had drowned, 25 percent of people died from injuries including carbon monoxide poisoning and 11 percent died from heart conditions, which may have been exacerbated by stress or lack of access to medical care. Nearly, half, 49 percent, of the victims were aged 75 or older – showing how the frail are often most at risk.
Carbon monoxide poisoning – usually listed under injuries – killed 10 people in Alabama and Texas after Katrina and a second hurricane, Rita, hit and power went out, often for weeks.
“Few homes had functioning carbon monoxide detectors,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials wrote in a report published afterwards. “CDC continues to recommend that generators be placed far from homes, away from window air conditioners, and that carbon monoxide detectors be used by all households operating gasoline-powered appliances (e.g., generators and gas furnaces), with batteries replaced yearly.”
Watch now: Multiple live video streams of Sandy coverage
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas generated when natural gas, gasoline, coal and other fuels are burned. Victims usually don’t notice they are being affected and they can die in their sleep. The first symptom is often sleepiness or nausea, as well as headache.
It can be a problem any time of year but especially during power outages as people turn to other sources to cook and to heat or cool their homes. “Don't run a car or truck inside a garage attached to your house, even if you leave the door open. Don't heat your house with a gas oven,” CDC cautions.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast near Galveston, killing 74 people in Texas and Louisiana. The largest percentage were people who died from carbon monoxide poisoning after the storm had passed and left 2.3 million people without power – 13 people died this way, state health offiicials reported. Eight people drowned and 12 died of heart attacks, strokes and other heart-related causes.
Anthony Arguez and James Elsner of Florida State University analyzed hurricane deaths and found that, even though more people live along the coasts, they are far less likely to die in hurricanes than in the days before highways and warning systems made it easy to escape the most dangerous areas.
In the past 100 years or so, they found, hurricanes have killed about 15,000 people – about half of them in 1900 when Galveston, Texas was destroyed by a hurricane. The storm surge – created when winds blow seawater up onto coastal areas -- was the biggest killer. Storm surges have been among Sandy's first effects on New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
“At least 1,500 persons lost their lives during Katrina and many of those deaths occurred directly, or indirectly, as a result of storm surge,” the National Hurricane Center says on its website.
Flash floods can also be a risk – not so much to people in homes, but to those out and about on foot and in cars. Even six inches of fast-moving water and pull a person down if they’re wading in it, and cars can be pulled into rivers or streams.
Live blog: Updates on Hurricane Sandy
When Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina in 1999, dropping 20 inches of rain, most of those who died drowned when they were trapped in cars trying to navigate floodwaters, state health officials reported. Of the 52 people who died during and directly after Floyd, 24 died in cars, and seven, including five rescue workers, died trying to escape floodwaters by boat.
While people may worry about infectious diseases after hurricanes cause floods, they haven't historically been a major cause of death or illness. Health officials also issue detailed warnings about food poisoning -- a danger when power outages knock out refrigerators. But statistics don't indicate many deaths from foodborne illness after U.S. hurricanes.
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What food to save, throw out if you lose power
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Why people stay behind during hurricanes
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I was sorry to see no mention of calling poison control for these type of post-storm poisonings. Anyone in the U.S. with a working phone can call 1-800-222-1222 and speak to a poison specialist for free. People can call for questions about safely operating a generator and even for medication mistakes that might happen in the dark -- and, of course, for child poisonings of any kind. Poison centers save lives!
How about the truth? School buses weren't used for evacuations, people refused to evacuate, lot's of people stayed behind to loot, etc.
And for people blaming Bush please remember that the mayor of New Orleans was a Democrat and he was black. So one party and one skin color doesn't have an exclusive on not knowing what to do.
President Bush called Governor Kathleen Blanco three days before Hurricane Katrina but his pleas fell on deafs ears. Governor Blanco refused any assistance from the Federal Government and was more concerned with the legalities of accepting federal assistance, and the appearance that her office could not handle the emergency.The next day, August 27, Bush called Blanco again and urged her to order a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, she refused.By August 28, Governor Blanco had not made the decision to allow FEMA workers to assist with relief efforts. On this same day, Max Maxfield, the National Hurricane Director, called Mayor Ray Nagin and educated him on the force of nature was bearing down on his city.Mayor Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation order for New Orleans on Sunday, August 28.
The Department of Defense sent search and rescue experts, Dr's, RN's and support personnel. FEMA was there to help as much as they could but local and state officials would not allow them to participate because Governor Blanco still had not given her permission .
Residents of New Orleans watched as the flood waters continued to poor through the breach in the 17th Street Canal levee and by Wednesday their frustration began to boil. The summer sun baked survivors on rooftops. Those who made it to the Superdome were now wandering through the gutted building, waiting for relief supplies and help which never came. Mayor Ray Nagin cursed everyone who failed to move fast enough, but Kathleen Blanco toured the stricken city in a helicopter while she conducted a news interview for CBS. On the ground, state officials were struggling with the magnitude of the disaster, but were rapidly being overwhelmed.
Federal officials were on standby, ready to move, but Governor Blanco had still mot made a decision to ask for federal help.On Thursday, September 1, amid a growing clamor of questions about the lack of action being taken in New Orleans, Blanco finally signed the Executive Order, giving permission for the federal government to enter Louisiana with military assistance.
The following is a transcript of WWL correspondent Garland Robinette's interview with Nagin on Thursday night. Robinette asked the mayor about his conversation with President Bush:
NAGIN: I told him we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice. And that I have been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we're outmanned in just about every respect.
You know the reason why the looters got out of control? Because we had most of our resources saving people, thousands of people that were stuck in attics, man, old ladies. ... You pull off the doggone ventilator vent and you look down there and they're standing in there in water up to their freaking necks.
And they don't have a clue what's going on down here. They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn -- excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed.
WWL: Did you say to the president of the United States, "I need the military in here"?
NAGIN: I said, "I need everything."
Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honore.
And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done.
They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people.
WWL: What do you need right now to get control of this situation?
NAGIN: I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here.
I'm like, "You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."
That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy.
I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. ... We don't have anything, and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish.
It's awful down here, man.
WWL: Do you believe that the president is seeing this, holding a news conference on it but can't do anything until [Louisiana Gov.] Kathleen Blanco requested him to do it? And do you know whether or not she has made that request?
NAGIN: I have no idea what they're doing. But I will tell you this: You know, God is looking down on all this, and if they are not doing everything in their power to save people, they are going to pay the price. Because every day that we delay, people are dying and they're dying by the hundreds, I'm willing to bet you.
We're getting reports and calls that are breaking my heart, from people saying, "I've been in my attic. I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out." And that's happening as we speak.
You know what really upsets me, Garland? We told everybody the importance of the 17th Street Canal issue. We said, "Please, please take care of this. We don't care what you do. Figure it out."
WWL: Who'd you say that to?
NAGIN: Everybody: the governor, Homeland Security, FEMA. You name it, we said it.
And they allowed that pumping station next to Pumping Station 6 to go under water. Our sewage and water board people ... stayed there and endangered their lives.
And what happened when that pumping station went down, the water started flowing again in the city, and it starting getting to levels that probably killed more people.
In addition to that, we had water flowing through the pipes in the city. That's a power station over there.
So there's no water flowing anywhere on the east bank of Orleans Parish. So our critical water supply was destroyed because of lack of action.
WWL: Why couldn't they drop the 3,000-pound sandbags or the containers that they were talking about earlier? Was it an engineering feat that just couldn't be done?
NAGIN: They said it was some pulleys that they had to manufacture. But, you know, in a state of emergency, man, you are creative, you figure out ways to get stuff done.
Then they told me that they went overnight, and they built 17 concrete structures and they had the pulleys on them and they were going to drop them.
I flew over that thing yesterday, and it's in the same shape that it was after the storm hit. There is nothing happening. And they're feeding the public a line of bull and they're spinning, and people are dying down here.
WWL: If some of the public called and they're right, that there's a law that the president, that the federal government can't do anything without local or state requests, would you request martial law?
NAGIN: I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans. We did that a few days ago.
WWL: Did the governor do that, too?
NAGIN: I don't know. I don't think so.
But we called for martial law when we realized that the looting was getting out of control. And we redirected all of our police officers back to patrolling the streets. They were dead-tired from saving people, but they worked all night because we thought this thing was going to blow wide open last night. And so we redirected all of our resources, and we hold it under check.
I'm not sure if we can do that another night with the current resources.
And I am telling you right now: They're showing all these reports of people looting and doing all that weird stuff, and they are doing that, but people are desperate and they're trying to find food and water, the majority of them.
Now you got some knuckleheads out there, and they are taking advantage of this lawless -- this situation where, you know, we can't really control it, and they're doing some awful, awful things. But that's a small majority of the people. Most people are looking to try and survive.
And one of the things people -- nobody's talked about this. Drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area so freely it was scary to me, and that's why we were having the escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this, but I'm going to talk about it.
You have drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix, and that's the reason why they were breaking in hospitals and drugstores. They're looking for something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will.
And right now, they don't have anything to take the edge off. And they've probably found guns. So what you're seeing is drug-starving crazy addicts, drug addicts, that are wrecking havoc. And we don't have the manpower to adequately deal with it. We can only target certain sections of the city and form a perimeter around them and hope to God that we're not overrun.
WWL: Well, you and I must be in the minority. Because apparently there's a section of our citizenry out there that thinks because of a law that says the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper people, that everything that's going on to this point has been done as good as it can possibly be.
NAGIN: Really?
WWL: I know you don't feel that way.
NAGIN: Well, did the tsunami victims request? Did it go through a formal process to request?
You know, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important?
And I'll tell you, man, I'm probably going get in a whole bunch of trouble. I'm probably going to get in so much trouble it ain't even funny. You probably won't even want to deal with me after this interview is over.
WWL: You and I will be in the funny place together.
NAGIN: But we authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq lickety-quick. After 9/11, we gave the president unprecedented powers lickety-quick to take care of New York and other places.
Now, you mean to tell me that a place where most of your oil is coming through, a place that is so unique when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world, everybody's eyes light up -- you mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need? Come on, man.
You know, I'm not one of those drug addicts. I am thinking very clearly.
And I don't know whose problem it is. I don't know whether it's the governor's problem. I don't know whether it's the president's problem, but somebody needs to get their ass on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out right now.
WWL: What can we do here?
NAGIN: Keep talking about it.
WWL: We'll do that. What else can we do?
NAGIN: Organize people to write letters and make calls to their congressmen, to the president, to the governor. Flood their doggone offices with requests to do something. This is ridiculous.
I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddarn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count.
Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddarn crisis in the history of this country.
WWL: I'll say it right now, you're the only politician that's called and called for arms like this. And if -- whatever it takes, the governor, president -- whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes, I bet that the people listening to you are on your side.
NAGIN: Well, I hope so, Garland. I am just -- I'm at the point now where it don't matter. People are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same in this time.
WWL: We're both pretty speechless here.
NAGIN: Yeah, I don't know what to say. I got to go.
WWL: OK. Keep in touch. Keep in touch.
Hey isn't Nagen the life long Republicon a$$hole that coined the phrase "This city will be chocolate at the end of the day" as his people (white, black, hispanic, ect) were dying all around him due to his mismanagement of the hurricane evacuation and rescue/after-care of the hurricane survivors?
Nagin has never been a Republican, and you are referring to a speech he gave in January 2006, nearly five months after the storm. People were no longer "dying in the streets" by that time. As for the rest of your post, you are correct.
I was a little skeptical about there being so many deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning but it seems that people really do put gas generators inside their homes or right next to windows. No judgement on my part because I've done things that in hindsight were fairly dangerous or thoughtless.
Nearly, half, 49 percent, of the victims were aged 75 or older – showing how the frail are often most at risk.
This is kind of a "duh" statement. Doesn't "frail" sort of mean "most at risk"? If someone is not frail, they are not considered to be at risk of injury or death.
You're right--"frail" isn't the right word. A baby is "frail" also. People in hospitals are "frail." They meant "elderly." Also, just being elderly doesn't make one "frail."
East coast I sincerely thought it would be looters as the primary cause of death.