Although the material damage from 2012's Hurricane Sandy may have been repaired, the storm left a lasting impact on cardiovascular health, according to new findings from Weill Cornell Medicine and New York University researchers.
The study, published Sept. 3 in JAMA Network Open, found that older adults living in flood-hit areas in New Jersey faced a 5% higher risk of heart disease for up to five years after Sandy’s landfall. This is one of the first studies to rigorously quantify long-term cardiovascular risks associated with flooding in older adults. Most studies focus on the immediate consequences of severe weather events.
"Climate-amplified hurricanes and hurricane-related floods are expected to increase into the future," said Dr. Arnab Ghosh, assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and an internist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who led the research. “So, it’s essential to understand the long-term health effects on those most vulnerable."
Natural Controlled Experiment
The researchers analyzed Medicare data from over 120,000 people aged 65 and older living in New Jersey, New York City, and Connecticut in the five years after the storm.
