Hurricane Michael’s Damage Could Be Permanent for Kids If Florida Doesn’t Reopen Schools ASAP

The destruction of life and property wrought by monster Hurricane Michael won’t be fully clarified for weeks; many communities so damaged that it will take years to become inhabitable again. Needless to say, the priority is still to find survivors and locate those who didn’t make it. But, soon enough, it will be time to think hard about what it’s going to take to support a massive recovery effort, especially in Florida which took the brunt of the category 4 storm.

During the response and recovery process, we should give high priority to what is happening to the children who survive the storm.

As Hurricane Michael moves inland, public data can help the most vulnerable

As Hurricane Michael moves further inland, bringing torrential rains and high winds with it, those who were most vulnerable before the storm are going to need the most assistance in its aftermath. This is a mantra that is relevant to hurricanes and other disasters. This is also well-described in research focusing on disproportional impact and recovery of vulnerable populations. But to really have that principle influence and improve disaster planning and response, we need a richer understanding of these vulnerabilities and better tools to incorporate them into the planning process.

Still in Limbo a Year After Harvey and Maria

Hurricane Lane has just struck Hawaii bringing record rainfall and devastation to the Island. For people who live along the U.S. Eastern seaboard, near the Gulf of Mexico or anywhere in the Caribbean, being reminded that we are still less than halfway through the 2018 hurricane season must be unsettling, to say the least.

Five reasons not to underestimate Hurricane Florence

As Hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast as a major hurricane, there is also a collective sigh of relief among many that the route of the storm avoided areas like Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico that are still recovering from the 2017 hurricane season. However, Hurricane Florence is still a monster of storm, the likes of which haven’t been seen in the Carolinas and Virginia for decades, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Here are five reasons why Florence, and any major hurricane, should not be underestimated…

The Puerto Rico Death Toll Will Only Get Higher

The latest attempt to get an accurate death toll in Puerto Rico following last year’s Hurricane Maria paints a grim picture: 2,975 “excess” deaths could be attributed to the storm, according to George Washington University researchers. That’s 46 times more than the 64 deaths first reported last fall.

But the counting is far from over, and nobody should be surprised if the death toll in Puerto Rico reaches or exceeds 4,000 by the end of the year.

Recovery after Harvey and Maria

Hurricane Lane has just struck Hawaii bringing record rainfall and devastation to the Island. For people who live along the U.S. Eastern seaboard, near the Gulf of Mexico or anywhere in the Caribbean, being reminded that we are still less than halfway through the 2018 hurricane season must be unsettling, to say the least.

To make matters worse, recovery from last year’s season of storms — which included Hurricanes Harvey Irma and Maria — is sluggish, incomplete and lacking a cohesive vision or timeline for completion.

US Remains Ill-prepared for Terror Attacks, Natural Disasters [Part I & Part II]

How prepared is the U.S. to deal with future disasters? The Globe Post asked Dr. Irwin Redlener. In this two-part interview, Redlener reexamines where the U.S. stands today regarding disaster preparedness, taking new factors into account such as up-to-date climate science, the threat of cyber warfare and the election of Donald Trump.

We're dangerously unprepared for the heat crisis from climate change

Hot enough for you?

Well, if you live in one of the many US cities where official heat emergencies have been declared, or if you live in California, suffering the worst wildfires in the state's history, the answer is obvious. Extreme heat creates terrible conditions. And for many vulnerable individuals those conditions can be -- and often are -- deadly.

Donald Trump’s HHS Secretary Alex Azar Must Resign Now

A unique moral failing has happened under his watch. He must go.

There is no justifying the unrelenting trauma the U.S. government is purposely inflicting on children and parents separated at the southern border as an explicit deterrent to immigration from Central America. It is an unconscionable use of overt cruelty as governmental policy. And many Americans, even ardent Trump supporters I have spoken with, say they find this policy abhorrent.

But compounding the trauma of separation are the conditions for children during the weeks and months of uncertainty that follow it. Children are being subjected to emotional shock treatment at detention centers that the government has set up to warehouse them as they wait for reunification.

Donald Trump’s HHS Secretary Alex Azar Must Resign Now

There is no justifying the unrelenting trauma the U.S. government is purposely inflicting on children and parents separated at the southern border as an explicit deterrent to immigration from Central America. It is an unconscionable use of overt cruelty as governmental policy. And many Americans, even ardent Trump supporters I have spoken with, say they find this policy abhorrent.

The Legal Consequences of Child Abuse By Government

Dr. Redlener joins Brian Lehrer of WNYC to talk about the psychological trauma and effects on immigrant children that have been separated from their families and why it constitutes "child abuse and neglect by government," which could lead to legal consequences.

Dramatic rescue underway for trapped Thai soccer team

A dramatic rescue is underway to free the remaining children trapped in that flooded cave in Thailand. Stephanie Ruhle and Ali Velshi speak with NBC Correspondents Bill Neely and Matt Bradley and the Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, Dr. Irwin Redlener about this race against the clock.

If I Saw a Child Mistreated Like ICE Is Doing, I’d Call the Authorities

The bandwagon of child care and health professionals who have characterized the federal government’s forced separation of migrant children from their parents as “child abuse by government” is overflowing. It would indeed be difficult to concoct a more traumatizing experience for already vulnerable infants and children then what these kids have gone through. 

The fact is that, as a pediatrician, if I saw a child being subject to the terror these kids are experiencing I would be ethically and legally obliged to contact the authorities.  But wait: The authorities are the perpetrators! 

Melania Trump and Jeff Sessions need a heart-to-heart

Even assuming the worst, it is hard to imagine that anybody — even in this White House — planned to have Melania Trump’s seemingly heartfelt public statement about cherishing and protecting children utterly neutralized — almost mockingly — by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ s ice-cold reiteration of protocols for dealing with immigrant families seeking asylum status in the United States.

Salon Talks: Children’s health care in crisis

From limited access to health care, to contaminated drinking water and the growing opioid epidemic, America’s health is constantly being threatened and children are often hit the hardest. Co-founder of the Children's Health Fund and public health activist Dr. Irwin Redlener joins Salon’s Amanda Marcotte to discuss his new book, “The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America,” and the biggest threats to children’s health today.

The Doctor's Office

Nuclear war. Jimmy Kimmel. Lionel Richie. What do these things have in common? Dr. Irwin Redlener. Columbia's Acacia O'Connor takes you inside the doctor's office on this episode of The Low Down.

Redlener is director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at The Earth Institute, co-founder -- along with Paul Simon -- of Children's Health Fund, a professor of health policy and management, and professor of pediatrics at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center. He works the biggest of big issues: from hurricanes and the refugee crisis to access to health care and education. He recently wrote a memoir, The Future of Us, published by Columbia University Press.

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