WASHINGTON (Sept. 30,2022)—Research conducted after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico suggests that older adults and people with chronic health conditions will be most at risk of death or injury in the coming days as Florida and Puerto Rico recover from Hurricanes Ian and Fiona.
Elizabeth Andrade, an assistant professor of prevention and community health at the George Washington University, was part of a team of GW researchers who conducted the most comprehensive study of the impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico.
She says power outages can be particularly deadly for older adults who require medical equipment and people who are managing a chronic condition like kidney disease. After Hurricane Maria people could not operate respirators and those with kidney disease had trouble accessing dialysis centers because of power outages and disaster conditions.
“Hours without a respirator can be deadly, and missed dialysis can become life threatening within a matter of days,” she says, adding that many people in Puerto Rico are still struggling with power outages today.
To protect people at greatest health risk in the days to come, public health officials in Florida and Puerto Rico must keep close track of the same groups and pay particular attention to low income communities, Andrade says.
In the future, the researchers at GW say U.S. communities must take steps now to prepare for extreme weather that is becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change and reevaluate preparedness guidelines to protect populations most vulnerable to disaster impacts.
WATCH: Find more insight from Prof. Andrade here.
To interview Elizabeth Andrade, or another member of the GW team that studied Hurricane Maria, please contact GW Media at [email protected].
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