Adverse Health Outcomes Following Hurricane Harvey: A Comparison of Remotely‐Sensed and Self‐Reported Flood Exposure Estimates
Year: 2023
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Remotely sensed inundation may help to rapidly identify areas in need of aid during and following floods. Here we evaluate the utility of daily remotely sensed flood inundation measures and estimate their congruence with self‐reported home flooding and health outcomes collected via the Texas Flood Registry (TFR) following Hurricane Harvey. Daily flood inundation for 14 days following the landfall of Hurricane Harvey was acquired from FloodScan. Flood exposure, including number of days flooded and flood depth was assigned to geocoded home addresses of TFR respondents ( N = 18,920 from 47 counties). Discordance between remotely‐sensed flooding and self‐reported home flooding was measured. Modified Poisson regression models were implemented to estimate risk ratios (RRs) for adverse health outcomes following flood exposure, controlling for potential individual level confounders. Respondents whose home was in a flooded area based on remotely‐sensed data were more likely to report injury (RR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.27–1.77), concentration problems (1.36, 95% CI: 1.25–1.49), skin rash (1.31, 95% CI: 1.15–1.48), illness (1.29, 95% CI: 1.17–1.43), headaches (1.09, 95% CI: 1.03–1.16), and runny nose (1.07, 95% CI: 1.03–1.11) compared to respondents whose home was not flooded. Effect sizes were larger when exposure was estimated using respondent‐reported home flooding. Near‐real time remote sensing‐based flood products may help to prioritize areas in need of assistance when on the ground measures are not accessible.
Source: GeoHealth
DOI: 10.1029/2022gh000710
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,400
Awards: G3654172387, THE PREMISE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS THAT HEALTH HAZARD MITIGATION PLANNING AND PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER RESPONSE CAN BE IMPROVED BY INCLUDING ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE CHARACTERIZATION THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF EARTH OBSERVATIONS (EO) AND SYNTHETIC POPULATION MODELING. CURRENT HEALTH HAZARD MITIGATION PLANNING AT THE FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL INCORPORATES VULNERABILITY MAPPING SUCH AS THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTIONS SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX (SVI) THAT RELIES ON STATIC SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC DATA TO IDENTIFY POPULATIONS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES DURING AND FOLLOWING A DISASTER. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ENHANCE THESE METRICS OF SOCIAL VULNERABILITY BY DEVELOPING A METHODOLOGY FOR DYNAMIC EXPOSURE ESTIMATES USING EO COMBINED WITH SIMULATIONS OF PEOPLE'S MOVEMENTS THROUGH SPACE AND TIME. WE FOCUS ON A CASE STUDY APPLICATION THAT EVALUATES EXPOSURE TO TEMPERATURE FLOOD WATER AND POWER OUTAGES DURING AND FOLLOWING HURRICANE HARVEY AND COMPARISON TO HEALTH DATA COLLECTED FROM SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS AT THE HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT. METHODS DEVELOPED WILL BE APPLICABLE TO ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES (E.G. AIR POLLUTANTS) AND OTHER TYPES OF DISASTERS (E.G. TORNADOES WILDFIRES OIL SPILLS). ULTIMATELY THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO IMPROVE HEALTH HAZARD MITIGATION PLANNING AND RESPONSE TIMES IN NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD OF ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES COMPOUNDED BY SOCIAL VULNERABILITY DURING AND AFTER DISASTERS. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSAL INCLUDE: 1. COMBINE TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION FLOOD WATER AND NIGHTTIME LIGHTS DATA DERIVED FROM MODIS VIIRS AND IMERG WITH GROUND-LEVEL EXPOSURE ESTIMATES AT DAILY TIME RESOLUTION AND CENSUS TRACT SPATIAL RESOLUTION. 2. INTEGRATE TIME-RESOLVED AMBIENT EXPOSURE ESTIMATES FROM OBJ 1 WITH HUMAN MOVEMENT PATTERNS THROUGH SIMULATION OF A SYNTHETIC POPULATION THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT BUILT ENVIRONMENT COMPONENTS (TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE) AND BEHAVIORS PRE AND DURING A DISASTER. 3. MATCH DAILY SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE DATA RECEIVED BY THE HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT PRE- DURING AND POST HURRICANE HARVEY TO CENSUS TRACT EXPOSURE METRICS DEVELOPED IN OBJ. 1 AND 2 TO EVALUATE WHETHER THE INCORPORATION OF EO AND AGENT-BASED MODELING IMPROVES THE PREDICTION OF THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES DURING AND FOLLOWING HURRICANE HARVEY COMPARING TO PREDICTIONS USING SVI ALONE. TO ACCOMPLISH THESE OBJECTIVES METHODS USED WILL INCLUDE EVALUATION OF EO DATA PRODUCTS AND INTEGRATION WITH AN AGENT-BASED MODEL TO SIMULATE EXPOSURE ACROSS SPACE AND TIME. WE WILL DEVELOP POWER OUTAGE TEMPERATURE AND FLOOD WATER ESTIMATES AT HIGH SPATIAL (1 KM) AND TEMPORAL (DAILY) RESOLUTION USING THREE NASA PRODUCTS: MODIS VIIRS AND IMERG. THIS COMPILED DATA WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH A SYNTHETIC POPULATION AND USED TO SIMULATE EXPOSURE DISTRIBUTIONS AT THE CENSUS BLOCK LEVEL USING DAILY ACTIVITY PATTERNS DERIVED FROM NATIONAL LEVEL ACTIVITY PATTERN DATA AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR MODELS. THE FINAL PRODUCT WILL ASSIGN COMMUNITY-LEVEL EXPOSURE TO POWER OUTAGE TEMPERATURE AND FLOOD-RELATED RISKS AT THE CENSUS TRACT LEVEL. THE PRODUCT WILL THEN BE COMPARED TO SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE DATA TO EVALUATE THE UTILITY OF THE ENHANCEMENT IN PREDICTING AREAS WITH THE MOST EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS DURING AND FOLLOWING HURRICANE HARVEY (ALL CAUSE HEAT-RELATED ILLNESS CO POISONING AND FLOOD-RELATED INJURY AND ILLNESS). THE ENHANCED PRODUCTS WILL BE TRANSITIONED TO CDC GRASP WEB-BASED TOOLS MADE AVAILABLE TO STATE AND LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER PUBLIC HEALTH PARTNERS IN DISASTER PLANNING AND RESPONSE FIELDS. FINALLY FEASIBILITY AND VALUE OF INTEGRATION INTO SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE PLATFORMS TO SUPPORT REAL-TIME SITUATIONAL AWARENESS FUNCTIONS AT CDC AND IN LOCAL AND STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENTS DURING DISASTER RESPONSE WILL BE ASSESSED.
OpenAlex ID: W4366774245