At a congressional hearing with Sol Hsiang in 2019, he said something that shocked me: an extreme weather/climate event’s direct economic impacts are only 10% of the long-term impacts, which last for decades. You can see how this’d likely apply to the human cost as well; and now he’s proved it:
U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm. Understanding why could help minimize future deaths from hazards fueled by climate...
In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been shocking. The cost of fragmented communities, shuttered businesses, inadequate (or no) insurance payouts, toxicity from superfund site flooding, mental health impacts…. The list of why this is true is exhaustive; and obvious once you think about it!
I saw it in Vermont firsthand after Irene. Even in 2017 when I was there, a lot of the damage had yet to be addressed.
The devastation in North Carolina is climate change in action. Scientists estimate that climate change increased Hurricane Helene's rainfall by up to 50% in NC, and made the event up to 20x more likely. We cannot afford to elect a climate denier this fall to the White House.
Makes sense. The idea of dumping a bunch of Federal level involvement and money, shortly after it happens, and expecting it to make everything whole again is naive. You could extend the same dissection to how we dealt with COVID