The public health impact of hurricanes and major flooding

Accurate predictions of the public health impact of hurricanes and major flooding are hampered by the absence of a dose-response relationship between hurricane-associated flooding and human health and the imprecise, often conflicting, meteorological models of climate change and hurricane landfall. Flooding is now the most common type of disaster worldwide, and flash flooding, usually associated with tropical storms, is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. As a result of climate changes and more frequently alternating ocean oscillations, hurricanes of category 3 or greater now strike the continental US approximately every 18 months. Public health officials are obligated to educate policymakers and the public about the significant threats posed to population health and quality of life by the inexorable progression of global climate change, including more water-centered disasters, such as tropical storms and hurricanes.