Tag: Disasters

This paper calls for re-thinking how data are leveraged in planning for and responding to disasters in the United States, by calling for preempting the needs of medically vulnerable populations, and provisioning for disruptions in major utilities during natural disasters.

In addition to recent work related to wildfires in California, we will undertake a household based survey in California in January 2023 to identify information gaps that if addressed would that mitigate healthcare disruption and food insecurity.

The 3000+ household-based survey established that nearly 4000 people had died in the weeks in Puerto Rico, following Hurricane Maria, and not 59 as reported by the US government. The official death toll was revised.

In 2016, to assist the Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute (HKJC DPRI) and other disaster management players in Hong Kong in identifying priority areas for research, training, and partnerships, HKJC DPRI launched a study titled “Disaster Preparedness in Hong Kong – A Scoping Study” to assess the current disaster preparedness situation in Hong Kong.

On September 20 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico,USA, damaging homes, roads, hospitals, and water, power and communication lines.  Though the official death toll stood at less than 60, reports from the island seemed to suggest otherwise. Denied access to these data, Harvard University Professors Caroline Buckee, Satchit Balsari, Rafael Irizzary, and Jennifer Leaning oversaw a household based survey that estimated excess mortality in Puerto Rico from September 20 through December 31, 2017 was closer to 4000, and not 59, as estimated by the US government.