Hurricane Sandy (New Jersey): Mortality Rates in the Following Month and Quarter

• DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2017.303826
• Publication Date: 2017-06-22T19:55:55Z
• Authors: Soyeon Kim; Prathit A. Kulkarni; Mangala Rajan; Pauline Thomas; Stella Tsai; Christina Tan; Amy Davidow
• Keywords: Quarter (Canadian coin); Landfall

To describe changes in mortality after Hurricane Sandy made landfall New Jersey on October 29, 2012.We used electronic death records to all-cause and cause-specific overall, persons aged 76 years or older, by 3 impact levels for the month quarter following compared with same periods earlier adjusted trends.All-cause increased 6% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2%, 11%) month, 5%, 8%, 12% increasing level; 7% CI 10%) quarter, 15% level. In elderly persons, rates 10% 15%) 13% 10%, 16%) respectively. Deaths that were cardiovascular disease-related both periods, noninfectious respiratory 24% infection-related 20% unintentional injury-related 23% month.Mortality increased, heterogeneous cause, Sandy, particularly communities more severely affected elderly, who may benefit from supportive services.