It's no secret, most of us would like to stay in our own home as we age. Yet, sometimes our loved ones just need a little extra help to remain comfortable at home. That's where Always Best Care can help....we are dedicated to exceeding expectations....always
They say that your golden years are the best years of your life. For most older Americans, that's how it should be - a time to relax, reflect, and live life in a familiar place. After all, senior citizens in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to build a better economy, serve their communities, and raise families.
However, as seniors grow older, completing daily tasks like showering and enjoying activities such as visiting the historic Wyse Fork Battlefield Monument gets harder without someone by their side. Unfortunately, many older Americans aren't able to rely on their adult children for help. The reality in today's world is that family members do not have the skills or time to dedicate to caring for their parents. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.
Our in-home care services are for people who prefer to stay at home as they grow older but need ongoing care that family or friends cannot provide. More and more older adults prefer to live far away from long-term, institutionalized facilities and closer to the place where they feel most comfortable - their home. Home care in Fork, NC is a safe, effective way to give your loved ones the care they need when they need it the most.
Home Care Services
Service AreasSince 1996, Always Best Care has provided non-medical in-home care for seniors to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle as they get older. We are proud to have helped more than 25,000 seniors maintain higher levels of dignity and respect. We focus on providing seniors with the highest level of in-home care available so that they may live happily and independently.
Unlike some senior care companies, we genuinely want to be included in our clients' lives. We believe that personalized care is always the better option over a "one size fits all" approach. To make sure our senior clients receive the best care possible, we pair them with compassionate caregivers who understand their unique needs. That way, they may provide care accordingly without compromising their wellbeing.
The Always Best Care difference lies in life's little moments - where compassionate care and trustworthy experience come together to help seniors live a fruitful, healthy life. Whether you are an aging adult that can't quite keep up with life's daily tasks or the child of a senior who needs regular in-home services, Always Best Care is here to help.
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Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it is especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.
When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.
The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.
At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one gets older, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.
To give our senior clients the best care possible, we offer a full spectrum of in-home care services:
If your senior loved one has specific care needs, our personal care services are a great choice to consider. Personal care includes the standard caregiving duties associated with companion care and includes help with tasks such as dressing and grooming. Personal care can also help individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Common personal care services include assistance with:
Sometimes, seniors need helpful reminders to maintain a high quality of life at home. If you or your senior has trouble with everyday tasks like cooking, our home helper services will be very beneficial.
Common home helper care services include assistance with:
Using this kind of care is a fantastic way to make life easier for you or your senior loved one. At Always Best Care, our talented caregivers often fill the role of a companion for seniors. That way, older adults can enjoy their favorite local activities, such as visiting Cedar Fork District Park with friends while also receiving the care they need daily or weekly.
Common companionship services include:
According to AARP, more than 53 million adults living in the U.S. provide care to someone over 50 years old. Unfortunately, these caregivers experience stress, exhaustion, and even depression. Our respite care services help family caregivers address urgent obligations, spend time with their children, and enjoy nearby activities. Perhaps more importantly, respite care gives family members time to recharge and regroup. Taking personal time to de-stress reduces the risk of caregiver burnout. So, if you've always wanted to eat at the local The Capital Grille or visit Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, don't feel bad. Doing so is great for both you and your loved one.
At the end of the day, our goal is to become a valuable part of your senior's daily routine. That way, we may help give them the highest quality of life possible. We know that staying at home is important for your loved one, and we are here to help make sure that is possible.
If you have been on the fence about non-medical home care, there has never been a better time than now to give your senior the care, assistance, and companionship they deserve.
Always Best Care in-home services are for older adults who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that friends and family cannot provide. In-home care is a safe, effective way for seniors to age gracefully in a familiar place and live independent, non-institutionalized lives. The benefits of non-medical home care are numerous. Here are just a few reasons to consider senior care services from Always Best Care:
According to AARP, 9 out of 10 seniors prefer to age in place within the comfort of their own home. With in-home care, seniors have a way to stay at home, receive the care they need, and maintain a sense of independence, improving overall wellness.
If you or a member of your family have assumed the role of caregiver for your senior loved one, you know how stressful the job can be. Between caregiver burnout and constant worry, being a family caregiver is hard. In-home care relieves your burden and gives you peace of mind knowing that your older family member is in expert hands.
Unlike nursing homes, where the staff and residents rotate frequently, seniors can foster new friendships and build bonds with their caregiver. Seniors who socialize on a regular basis are often happier, which fosters positivity and leads to increased wellbeing.
No two seniors need the same kind of in-home care assistance. That is why each of our Care Plans is tailored to meet our client's individual needs. We offer plans that cover everything from light housekeeping to more involved duties like transportation to doctor's appointments. Our Care Coordinators will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan to ensure your senior's needs are exceeded.
Always Best Care offers a full array of care options for patients at all levels of health. With our trusted elderly care services, your loved one will receive the level of care necessary for them to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
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While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit - something that is unavailable to many older people today.
In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a strange nursing home, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.
How much does a senior's home truly mean to them?
A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, then, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old.
With the help of elderly care in Fork, NC, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.
Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors.
Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.
For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like a nursing home. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.
More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier and more affordable to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, seniors who age in the comfort of their homes can save thousands of dollars per month.
In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, are often less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.
With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.
In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.
Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.
At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.
In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:
When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.
Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.
At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Fork, NC understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.
Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.
Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.
While it's true that many seniors prefer to age at home, sometimes in-home care isn't the best fit. For those seniors and their families, choosing an assisted living facility makes more sense. Unfortunately, finding the optimal care facility is easier said than done in today's day and age. That's when Always Best Care's assisted living referral services begin to make a lot of sense.
Assisted living is a form of housing intended for seniors who require varying degrees of medical and personal attention. Accommodations may include single rooms, apartments, or shared living arrangements. Assisted living communities are typically designed to resemble a home-like environment and are physically constructed to encourage the independence of residents.
At assisted living communities, seniors receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. They may also benefit from coordination of services with outside healthcare providers, and monitoring of resident activities to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Caregivers who work at assisted living communities can also provide medication administration and personal care services for older adults.
Other services offered within assisted living communities can include some or all of the following:
At Always Best Care, our representatives can match your senior's emotional, physical, and financial needs with viable assisted living communities nearby. Results are based on comparative data, so you can select the best choice for you or your loved one.
Always Best Care works closely with local senior living communities to gain valuable knowledge that we then use to help seniors and their loved ones make informed decisions. This information can include basic care and rent, resident availability, and services provided. Because Always Best Care is compensated by these communities, we provide senior living referral services at no extra cost to you.
Some of the most popular assisted living communities to consider in our area include the following:
For many seniors, moving into a senior living community revolves around how and when they want to make a transition to more involved care. Some seniors are more proactive about transitioning to independent living. Others choose to remain home until their care needs or other requirements are satisfied. Remember - our staff is here to help. Contact our office today to learn more about assisted living communities and how we can find a facility that exceeds your expectations.
The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Always Best Care Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:
A discussion of your needs and how our trained caregivers can offer assistance in the most effective way
A draft of your care plan, which includes highly detailed notes and a framework for the care that you or your senior will receive
Discuss payment options and help coordinate billing with your insurance provider
Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.
If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.
At the end of the day, we only hire the best of the best at Always Best Care. Whether you need home care in Fork, NC 24-hours a day or only need a respite for a couple of hours, we are here to serve you.
When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.
ASHEVILLE – City officials announced Asheville’s water distribution system has been “substantially restored” as of Oct. 16, with 75 to 80 percent of the system running non-potable water to city and county residents.That percentage is likely to increase by the end of the day as service expands in North Asheville and West Asheville, which first began receiving water on Oct. 15, according to spokesperson Clay Chandler. As the system pressurizes, tanks fill and the pump stations start operating, more...
ASHEVILLE – City officials announced Asheville’s water distribution system has been “substantially restored” as of Oct. 16, with 75 to 80 percent of the system running non-potable water to city and county residents.
That percentage is likely to increase by the end of the day as service expands in North Asheville and West Asheville, which first began receiving water on Oct. 15, according to spokesperson Clay Chandler. As the system pressurizes, tanks fill and the pump stations start operating, more homes in these areas will start to see water trickle in.
“While not everyone has returned to water service yet, and there’s still much work to be completed before we have full restoration, our crews have made tremendous progress,” Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said in a Oct. 16 briefing.
Residents with homes at higher altitudes will get service back “a little after their neighbors” in lower lying areas. This is in part because the tank that feeds these homes is likely at a higher elevation and requires a pump station to push water up from a lower altitude, Chandler explained.
More:Here's where to find Asheville-area food, water distribution sites
The city can’t simply switch on those pump stations because of the amount of air in the water lines that needs to be “let off.”
“There’s a lot of air in the water line; It’ll burn it up, and those things are extremely expensive and extremely difficult to replace,” Chandler said.
Before Tropical Strom Helene swept through Western North Carolina, a single 6-inch line brought water to about 75 homes in the Eastmoor neighborhood. The line was “completely washed across the Swannanoa River” during the storm, Chandler said.
Without water, Eastmoor residents have gotten creative, specifically 17-year-old Carson Stubbs. Stubbs and a group of young people created a pulley system to quickly get water out of a spring nearby and started using water filters donated by LifeStraw to get clean drinking water.
Helene recovery in Buncombe:Water returns slowly, donation needs change, more
But starting Oct. 16, a crew from TP Howard’s Plumbing will begin clearing out debris and underbrush where the 6-inch pipe used to lie. Meanwhile, a temporary pipe will be placed to service the neighborhood, Chandler said.
However, the water pressure coming through the temporary pipe will have less pressure than normal. With the neighborhood having some elevation change, Chandler said it’s important for low-lying neighbors to conserve as much water as possible to help those living up the hill.
About 40 homes in Swannanoa’s Bee Tree community are still without water – an area that received severe damage from Helene. But the good news: the water line that serves the neighborhood is still intact, Chandler said.
Yet, Asheville’s water resources crew needs to complete backfilling on the line for stabilization, so it can withstand water pressure.
“That backfilling should be complete by late today or early tomorrow,” Chandler said.
Watershed officials are beginning to treat water in the North Fork Reservoir so it can pass through the water treatment plant filter. The reservoir is the source for more than 70 percent of Asheville's water customers.
“That lake was flipped completely upside down by Helene,” Chandler said. “Sediment on the bottom came all the way to the top and turned what is normally crystal-clear, pristine water into something that strongly resembled chocolate milk.”
The reservoir stores untreated water pumped from the Mills River, where suspended material typically settles out. Upon entering the treatment plant, any remaining particulate is treated with aluminum sulfate, a salt, which causes the heavy particles to settle out into catch basins.
Officials plan to dump the saltish mineral straight into the reservoir starting Oct. 16. The sulfate will work to clump together billions of clay particles suspended in the water, weighing the particles down enough to sink to the bottom, Chandler said. The reservoir should then clear from the top down.
More:Asheville reservoir to get direct water treatment in effort to speed return of supply
Caustic soda will then be added to adjust the pH of the water, allowing the aluminum sulfate to do its job. The mineral is normally used in the city’s water treatment and filtration process, according to Chandler.
“By Friday, we will have an idea, at least, of how long that treatment process will take. It’s just too early to know, with the temperature of the water and the current levels of turbidity, how long that will take,” Chandler said.
In the meantime, a boil water notice is in effect for every customer served by the city of Asheville, including Mills River and North Fork.
“This was done out of an abundance of caution, because now that North Fork is online, there are mixing zones … where water from the two plants can potentially mix,” Chandler said.
Woody previously asked residents who had regained water to help flush the system by flushing private lines for about 15 minutes via bathtub or outdoor faucets. Before flushing, close valves to hot water heaters and other appliances such as ice makers.
Even as water flushes and grows clearer, it is unsafe for consumption. City water is safe for laundry, showering, and hand washing if no food preparation is done directly after.
What to know:Legionnaires' disease, tetanus among health risks North Carolina residents face in the wake of Helene flooding
Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. She is a graduate of Indiana University and was the Citizen Times Summer News Reporting Intern in 2022. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober
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More than half of the people served by Asheville’s Water Resources Department remain without access to water as of Oct. 13, more than two weeks after devastating flooding in the region.The number of people without water in the city’s water department footprint is roughly 90,000 to 100,000, said spokesman Clay Chandler during a Buncombe County news conference Sunday. The water system ...
More than half of the people served by Asheville’s Water Resources Department remain without access to water as of Oct. 13, more than two weeks after devastating flooding in the region.
The number of people without water in the city’s water department footprint is roughly 90,000 to 100,000, said spokesman Clay Chandler during a Buncombe County news conference Sunday. The water system supports about 160,000 people, including customers in Asheville and Buncombe and Henderson counties.
Officials have said they don't anticipate water fully returning to customers for weeks at a minimum.
Nearly 80% of the customers receive water from North Fork Reservoir, which was heavily affected by sediment from heavy precipitation brought by Tropical Storm Helene. The water department started to directly treat the reservoir to clear up the murky waters.
Additionally, lines at the North Fork Water Treatment facility — the principal plant in the system — were completely destroyed. Helene also broke backup water lines buried 25 feet underground.
When asked what was the greatest challenge officials faced in getting water back to customers, Chandler said, "basically everything."
U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Gov. Roy Cooper visited the reservoir on Oct. 10, the same day water department crews connected a 36-inch bypass line damaged in the storms. On Saturday, Buncombe County officials announced water was flowing through the line and reaching some customers in Swannanoa, though the water was heavily chlorinated and contains sediment.
Asheville officials have provided instructions of what residents should do before water service returns:
With water now reaching some customers who rely on the North Fork reservoir, the city reminded customers Friday that the water is not safe to drink from the tap and they must boil it for at least one minute before consumption. A boil water notice for water from North Fork means there are confirmed contaminants in the water.
The water is safe for cleaning, such as laundry, showering (don't get it in your mouth), washing dishes and flushing toilets.
Customers who receive water from the Mills River treatment plant are under a boil water advisory. While there are no confirmed contaminants, officials have said there is reason to believe they exist. Whether under a boil water notice or advisory, the action is the same: vigorously boil the water for at least one minute before consumption.
READ MOREHurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, causing major flooding and destruction throughout North Carolina. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer about Hurricane Helene and the aftermath, particularly in Western North Carolina.Expand AllThe City of Asheville will start pressurizing parts of its water system served by the North Fork Reservoir this weekend, the next step in trying to rebuild the network of distribution lines ripped apart by flooding from the remnan...
Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, causing major flooding and destruction throughout North Carolina. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer about Hurricane Helene and the aftermath, particularly in Western North Carolina.
The City of Asheville will start pressurizing parts of its water system served by the North Fork Reservoir this weekend, the next step in trying to rebuild the network of distribution lines ripped apart by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Helene.
The process likely will reveal new breaks and leaks in the towns of Swannanoa and Black Mountain, which sustained some of the worst damage from flooding in the Swannanoa River.
It won’t immediately provide those areas with drinkable water.
Clay Chandler, spokesman for Asheville’s water resources department, said Friday that repair crews are on standby and will be “playing Whac-A-Mole” with the leaks, some of which are likely to shoot water straight into the air, he said. Chandler and Ben Woody, Asheville’s assistant city manager, explained the plan Friday during Buncombe County’s regular Helene recovery briefing, live-streamed through the county’s Facebook page.
This week, crews finished repairs to a 36-inch bypass line that will allow water to start flowing from the reservoir located north of Black Mountain. The North Fork Reservoir is the largest of the city’s three impoundments and serves some 70% of its customers, including those in Black Mountain and Swannanoa.
But the water that will start flowing into the system this weekend won’t be of the pristine quality to which Asheville customers are accustomed.
Gov. Roy Cooper visited the North Fork Reservoir Thursday with state and local officials and heard that normally, water in the lake is so clear it’s possible to see fish swimming 10 feet down.
However, Helene “flipped” the reservoir, bringing silt up from the bottom and stirring it into the water like it was run through a blender.
The particulates became electrically charged and have continued to bounce off each other, keeping the water murky and gritty and limiting visibility to just a few inches. Cooler temperatures this week have slowed the process even more, the city says.
The water can’t be processed by the nearby treatment plant because the particulates are so large they would quickly jam up the plant’s filtration.
Friday, Woody described for the public the process that will be used to try to accelerate the process of settling the particulates back to the bottom of the reservoir. Crews will curtain off sections of the reservoir with underwater semi-circular partitions and treat each section with aluminum sulfate, a coagulant that’s expected to clump the clay particles together and cause them to fall to the bottom.
Officials won’t make a guess about how long that process might take.
Meanwhile, though, the city will start drawing water directly from the reservoir – suspended silt and all – into the repaired 36-inch line and push it into the smaller feeder lines. That will allow them to find the breaks and leaks they haven’t already located, all of which must be repaired before additional communities can be added back on.
Over the coming days or weeks, crews will continue to pressurize lines, find and fix leaks, and keep moving west until the system is repaired.
Woody said that customers in Black Mountain and Swannanoa might notice water flowing through their pipes this weekend, and told them it will contain lots of sediment. They should shut off intake lines to appliances, including water heaters, to prevent damage from silt buildup, he said. Power should be shut off to water heaters as well, he said, until the system is restored.
In Swannanoa, water that flows into the system through this process can be used if boiled, Woody said. But in Black Mountain, because of additional issues there, the water should not be used for drinking even if boiled.
This story was originally published October 11, 2024, 5:08 PM.
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During Buncombe County's Monday briefing Oct. 7, Asheville's Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said it will take weeks to restore the city's water system after it was heavily damaged in flooding from Tropical Storm Helene, which tore through the area Sept. 26 and 27.
Since the city's team of dedicated engineers and contractors began work on the water system last Monday, they have made significant progress, Woody said. As of Friday, Oct. 4, the Mills River plant is fully operational, providing clean water to southern Asheville — about 20% of the city's water system.
However, to get clean water to the other 80% of the system, major repairs are needed at North Fork Reservoir, the city's principal plant. The holdup? Helene completely destroyed the plant's water lines.
More:Here's where to find Asheville-area food, water distribution sites
First, contractors must fix the water lines by reestablishing a bypass line across a creek bed at North Fork. While contractors have struggled to connect the line across the 25 feet of creek bed due to its high water levels from the storm, Woody is hopeful to have the bypass work done later this week.
After the bypass line is reconstructed, the water at North Fork Reservoir must be treated, or filtered and pressurized, before it can be distributed. Before Helene, this water source was one of the most protected and pristine in the country, but in Woody's words, it now looks like "chocolate milk."
The time it will take to clean the debris-filled water cannot yet be determined.
Although there is no definite timeline for when Asheville can expect access to clean water, Woody advised that it will likely be weeks, not days.
When water restoration does begin, it will happen in sequence starting at distribution systems closest to the source of the water. This means that those who live closer to North Fork will receive access to water first, and access will spread farther out as work progresses.
Woody advised that as access to clean water becomes available, it is critical to conserve that water.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images Hurricane Helene ripped up from Florida to the Carolinas last week, killing more than 100 people and leaving devastation in its wake that will take weeks or months even to assess.A new study published in Nature suggests its impacts will be even greater. On average over the past nearly 100 years, a tropical cyclone hitting the U.S. is associated with somewhere between 7,000 to 11,...
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Hurricane Helene ripped up from Florida to the Carolinas last week, killing more than 100 people and leaving devastation in its wake that will take weeks or months even to assess.
A new study published in Nature suggests its impacts will be even greater. On average over the past nearly 100 years, a tropical cyclone hitting the U.S. is associated with somewhere between 7,000 to 11,000 deaths. Helene, though, was more powerful than the average; its likelihood and rainfall intensity were increased by human-caused climate change.
When storms are active, people die, for instance, when floods rip through neighborhoods, or when trees fall on them. But the new study shows that losses continue for months, and can last as long as 15 years, after the storm passes taxing people’s health and economic well-being, contributing to thousands of premature deaths. The total impact, the study suggests, adds up to more than 3.5 million people since 1930, more than the total number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents over the same period of time and as much as 5% of the U.S.’s total deaths.
The analysis underscores that “tropical cyclones and hurricanes are a much greater public health burden than we previously thought,” says Rachel Young, an environmental economist at the University of California, Berkeley and author of the paper.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, counts the number of deaths directly attributed to hurricanes and tropical cyclones each year: out of the 501 storms that the study looked at, the official numbers say an average of 24 people die after each storm. But the new analysis suggests the toll is some 300 times higher than the official numbers.
It makes clear, Young says, that “we should be rethinking how we are responding and the kinds of programs and policies we're putting into place after these events,”— like in the wake of Helene, a storm that is already far outside the average. The official count has already exceeded 130 people, and the number is climbing.
Uncovering the true toll
The new accounting fits with other recent analyses that suggest the true impact of climate-worsened disasters, from hurricanes to heat waves to wildfires, is orders of magnitude larger than the federal government reports. If these larger estimates are taken into account, the human and economic costs of human-driven climate change balloon, suggesting a problem that is much larger than most federal officials acknowledge.
This study, and others like it, “cast in sharp relief” the climate impacts on human life in the U.S., says Robbie Parks, an environmental health expert at Columbia University. He led a previous study that found an estimated 18,000 uncounted deaths in the months following hurricane landfalls from 1988 to 2019.
The new analysis traces out the even-longer term ripples. The researchers looked at tropical cyclones that made landfall in the U.S. between 1930 and 2018. They gathered data on all deaths in the country for that same time period, and looked at the changes in deaths reported in counties before and a full 20 years after a serious storm hit. They accounted for some counties that were hit by another storm while the impacts of the first were still playing out. Researchers also looked at other factors that changed over time, like changes in population, or the time of year.
The magnitude of the impacts surprised even the researchers. “We spent many, many years trying to make sure that what we were measuring wasn't some sort of anomaly in the data, wasn't some kind of fluke, that it was really the response from these hurricanes,” says Young. “We did every kind of test you could possibly imagine. We thought about every kind of factor that could be driving these results.” But the data spoke for itself, she says.
Unexpected deaths jump quickly after a storm hits, then keep rising for six years after the impact. They don’t go back to the previous death rate until 15 years afterward.
When the researchers looked more closely, they saw that Black Americans were more than three times as likely to die in the years following the storm than white Americans.
They also found heightened risks for people over 65. But so were infants—even ones that weren’t yet in utero, or born, at the time of the storm. The study found their death rates were 16 times higher than for toddlers, teens, and adults under 65. The study didn’t identify why—but Young thinks it could be related to the long-term, emotional and economic effects on mothers, an insidious tail of pain left behind by a hurricane.
How the harms happen
The effects linger, Parks explains, because the harms linger. After a hurricane, people often have to deal with destroyed homes. They spend their savings to move, or repair, or simply survive after a disaster. Or they move away, losing support networks and leaving others behind without one. And local economies reshuffle, so people lose their jobs and deal with new economic burdens.
“Think about a place which has infrastructure, and suddenly does not—and then you have all these people living without essential infrastructure. You can imagine the slow creep of health effects occurs over time,” says Parks.
The social and economic disruption also impacts health care. Doctor and researcher Arnab Ghosh of the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University treated patients in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and in New York City after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. His patients struggled with the fallout for years.
“There is this rippling effect throughout the fabric of society after these events happen,” Ghosh says. “This is where the social gradients, the fault lines that exist in our society, play a role.”
After storms, diabetic patients suffer from interrupted insulin supply. Others can’t access dialysis, or move far from their care teams, losing crucial continuity. Some deal with mental health issues worsened by storm-related fallout; others find their cardiovascular problems exacerbated by stress or poor living conditions.
Many of the problems, Ghosh says, were not easily traced directly back to the storm, without careful probing and recording by doctors and nurses. It was often even difficult for a patient to see or understand the connection, he says. So Ghosh sees exactly how the direct count of health problems and even deaths related to the hurricane could—easily—be underestimated.
And, Ghosh says, it's a critical context for medical professionals like him to consider as they treat patients after the disasters—to know that they need to keep looking for connections to the storm, for months and years after.
Now we know. What next?
After Hurricane Maria hit, the Puerto Rican government initially estimated the death toll of the storm at 64. Puerto Ricans insisted that was a gross underestimate. Further analyses would put the number of lives lost in the thousands.
Roberto Rivera, a statistician at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, knows the impact of a hurricane can persist. “I'm still in Puerto Rico and all you have to do is drive around a little bit and you see the light poles, all tilted,” he says—and if the infrastructure is still in flux, so must be people’s lives and health.
An accurate count, Rivera says, is fodder to say to government leaders “look, we need to enhance the emergency policy. There are people who are dying unnecessarily.” But he says, the statistical assessments stretching out so many years are challenging, and the uncertainty in the estimate ranges in this new analysis are too high.
Helene was a more intense storm than most Climate change intensified its destructive rainfall, adding an extra 50% to the rain that fell in Georgia, NC, and beyond. Scientists expect hurricanes to continue intensifying rapidly and carrying more rainfall island as the planet heats up further.
The full picture of Helene’s damage will not be filled in for years, says Young. But whatever the official statistics say, she says, the true impact is almost certainly higher.
“We need to be giving people a lot of attention even months and years after, making sure that they're getting their insurance payouts on time, making sure that they're being made whole and that they can recover and they're not being forgotten about just because the hurricane was a month ago,” Young says.
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