How the Aftermath of a Massive U.S. Winter Storm Threatens Health for Millions

At least 17 people have died because of a vast winter storm that barreled across the United States this weekend. As of Monday morning, more than 800,000 households were without power, and more than 200 million people across the country were under alerts for severe cold.

Power outages, widespread displacement, freezing temperatures, and ongoing hazardous weather conditions, including heavy snow and freezing rain, continue to pose a serious threat to health. In the coming weeks, a lack of access to power and wide displacement are likely to stifle access to healthcare and put already vulnerable people at risk.

Direct Relief staff spent Friday dispatching field medic packs and hygiene kits to partners preparing for emergency operations. The organization had already staged massive caches of emergency response equipment and essential medicines in vulnerable communities across the country, as it does every year.

Winter storms like this one often leave a heartbreaking immediate death toll behind, with particular dangers for those who are unhoused, low-income individuals, older adults, and medically vulnerable people.

But storms and extreme weather events are often far deadlier in the weeks and sometimes years after the original threat has passed. The excess deaths caused by loss of power, a damaged clinic, displacement, and blocked roads can kill many times the number of people originally reported.

For Direct Relief, and the organization’s partners working in affected communities across the country, the next challenge will be to avoid this “second disaster.”

How Power Outages Exacerbate Health Risks

Power outages – whether they’re from a snowstorm, hurricane, or wildfire – can pose severe risks to health. People who rely on powered medical devices and refrigerated medicine are at particularly immediate risk. Food spoils in refrigerators, which can cause gastrointestinal illness and compromise food access more generally for low-income families.

The loss of power combined with freezing temperatures will bring additional, unique risks. Frostbite and hypothermia threaten people who are unsheltered or who need to be outdoors. Cardiovascular events like heart attacks will increase in harsh weather conditions. People relying on diesel generators or other alternative heat sources are at greater risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Traffic accidents will increase in areas without powered traffic lights, or with heavy rain or snow.

Across the country, community health centers, charitable clinics, and nonprofit pharmacies attempt to fill some of these gaps during emergencies. Staff call medically vulnerable patients to assess their needs. They deliver essential medications, work to keep their doors open, and connect people without heat or food to essential resources, preventing patients’ health from spiraling out of control.

That’s why Direct Relief, through its Power for Health program, supports community providers across the U.S. with resilient power sources that allow them to maintain clinic operations even in the case of widespread electrical failures.

Displacement and Impacts on Health Vulnerabilities

People displaced by storm damage, power outages, and dangerous weather – or those forced to congregate in shelters – are more medically vulnerable. For one thing, they are more likely to experience interruptions to care, especially if they move to a location far from their regular clinic. They’re also more likely to lose access to the community ties that so many people rely on to maintain their health, whether it’s a neighbor who regularly checks in, a friend who drives them to a doctor, or a local food bank that helps them stretch their food budget.

Shelters save lives but can bring health risks of their own, including gastrointestinal or respiratory diseases that spread in close quarters, high levels of stress, a lack of access to fresh foods, and the disruption of medical routines that people with chronic conditions need to maintain their health.

Chronic Conditions Can Spiral, If Unmanaged

No matter what the disaster, impacts on chronic conditions often cause the most widespread need. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, for example, providers across Louisiana reported that lost medications and a lack of access to primary healthcare affected a far greater number of patients than even the devastating floodwaters.

Hundreds of millions of Americans have at least one chronic disease, and many of them rely on continuous, reliable care to maintain their health. Clinic or pharmacy closures and a lack of access to medication – which is often destroyed, lost, or left behind in an extreme weather situation – can cause diabetes, hypertension, or respiratory disease to spiral out of control within days or weeks.

Mental Health Impacts on Adults and Children

An approaching winter storm can trigger mental health symptoms, especially for people with previous trauma. In a country where hurricanes, wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and other weather events are growing more widespread and severe, more and more people are experiencing compounding mental health impacts. That includes children, for whom a severe weather event can cause post-traumatic stress and other mental health problems that impact long-term flourishing.

Direct Relief’s Response to U.S. Winter Storms

On Friday, medical support departed for healthcare providers in Texas and Maryland, preparing to respond to the massive storm. Soap, shampoo, and dental supplies for people sheltering from the storm were dispatched to Harris County, Texas. Providers in Texas and Maryland also received field medic packs, containing emergency medical supplies for triage care.

Direct Relief is in communication with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and the National Association of Community Health Centers. Both organizations help member clinics and state primary care associations prepare for, and respond to, extreme weather events and other disasters, in addition to their ongoing work.

The organization has also been in communication with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management and North Carolina Emergency Management.

Direct Relief will continue to support on-the-ground providers and emergency responders as the scale of need becomes known.