A recent study published in the journal Nature has shed light on the true impact of hurricanes in the United States, revealing that these natural disasters result in significantly more deaths than officially reported. The study found that the average storm hitting the U.S. leads to the premature deaths of 7,000 to 11,000 individuals over a 15-year period, a stark contrast to the immediate death toll of around 24 that is typically recorded by the government in the aftermath of a hurricane.
The researchers, through a comprehensive analysis of excess mortality rates following 501 storms between 1930 and 2015, discovered a concerning pattern of increased death rates in the years following a hurricane. This phenomenon, referred to as a 'bump' in death rates, persists for up to 15 years post-storm, resulting in a total of 55,000 to 88,000 excess deaths annually attributed to hurricanes.
