SPRING, Texas (AP) — Janet Jarrett shared with her sister after the power went out as the heat soared in the Houston-area home. Hurricane BerylShe did her best to keep her 64-year-old sibling cool.
But on their fourth day without power, Pamela Jarrett, who used a wheelchair and relied on a feeding tube, woke up to gasps. Paramedics were called, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital, and the medical examiner said his death was caused by the heat.
“It’s really hard to know that she’s gone now because this shouldn’t have happened to her,” Janet Jarrett said.
Nearly two weeks after Beryl hit, heat-related deaths during extended power outages have raised the storm-related death toll in Texas to at least 23.
Summer is a combination of heat and residents Unable to operate air conditioner A Category 1 storm made landfall on July 8, causing dangerous conditions for some in the fourth largest city in the United States just days after it made landfall.
Beryl knocked out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses, lasting several days or more Report a spike In heat related diseases.
After more than a week of widespread power outages, power was restored to most people last week. The Houston area’s slower speeds mean Centerpoint Energy, the region’s electricity provider, subject to increasing scrutiny As to whether it is adequately prepared.
When it Maybe weeks Or years before the full human toll of the storm in Texas was known. Understanding that number Helps plan for the future, experts say.
What is known about the dead so far?
After the storm hit, with high winds and flooding, deaths included people killed by falling trees and people who drowned when their vehicles were submerged in floodwaters. Deaths include people who fell while cutting limbs from damaged trees and heat-related deaths in the days after the storm.
Half of the storm-related deaths in Harris County, where Houston is located, were heat-related, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science.
Jared, who has cared for her sister since she was injured in an attack six years ago, said her “sassy” sister has done everything from owning a vintage shop in Harlem, New York to working as an artist.
“She had a great personality,” Jared said, adding that her sister was in good health before they lost power at their home in the spring.
When will the absolute death toll be known?
The death toll is likely to rise further as power outages and clean-up operations continue.
Officials are still working to determine if some of the deaths that have already occurred should be considered storm-related. But even when those numbers come in, it may take a long time to get a clear picture of the storm’s toll.
Laura Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which uses death certificate data to identify storm-related deaths, estimated that even a preliminary count might not be available until the end of July.
The state’s vital statistics system has a prompt to indicate whether the death was storm-related, and medical certificates are being asked to send more information about how the death was related to the storm, Anton said.
While the number of storm-related deaths compiled from death certificates is useful, experts say an analysis of excess deaths that occurred during and after the storm can give a more complete picture of the numbers. To that end, the researchers compared the number of deaths during that period to how many people would be expected to die under normal conditions.
Excess mortality analysis helps account for overlooked deaths, said Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.
What do the different toll numbers tell us?
Both approaches, counting death certificates and counting excess deaths, have their own advantages when it comes to storms, said Gregory Velanius, director of the Center for Climate and Health at Boston University School of Public Health.
Excess mortality analysis provides a better estimate of the total number of people killed, so it can be useful for assessing the impact of climate change and for public health and emergency management planning, he said.
But that “doesn’t tell you who,” he said, and understanding the individual circumstances of storm deaths is important in helping to pinpoint which individuals are at risk.
“If I tell you 200 people died, that doesn’t tell you anything about what went wrong with these people, it just teaches us something about what we can do better to prepare or help people in the future,” Velenius said. . ___
Stenkle reported from Dallas. Sean Murphy contributed to this report from Oklahoma City.
