Long before “aftermath” meant the fallout from a disaster, it was a farming word. The “math” part comes from an Old English word for mowing. The aftermath was the second crop, the grass that grew back after the season’s first harvest.
The word didn’t pick up its darker meaning until the 1600s. But the original is still a useful way to think about storms.
The storm is the first cut. What comes up in the days after can be just as dangerous.
That’s the lesson Hurricane Isaias is reinforcing on the Gulf Coast.
Four weeks later
Four weeks ago, The Signal discussed an Atlantic hurricane season that had yet to produce a single hurricane. Isaias ended that streak.
The season’s first Atlantic hurricane made landfall near Destin, Florida, on the night of October 9 as a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds. In Panama City Beach, water rose 5.6 feet above the average high tide. That was the second-highest surge on record for the city.
By the morning of October 10, more than 884,000 customers across the Southeast had lost power.
Isaias weakened quickly. The danger didn’t.
The second cut
As of October 16, Isaias had been linked to at least eight deaths in Florida and Alabama. Some happened while the storm was overhead.
Many others came after it. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state’s six deaths included both direct and indirect storm deaths, among them:
The water was another threat that outlasted the wind.
“Sometimes these things happen a day or two days after the storm goes through. So the flooding story is not over,” said DeSantis.
A familiar pattern
None of this is new.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, about three out of four carbon monoxide poisonings reported by hyperbaric treatment centers happened in the first week after the storm. Improper generator placement caused 98% of them.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission calls portable generators one of the leading causes of post-storm carbon monoxide deaths. It recommends keeping them at least 20 feet from buildings, with the exhaust pointed away from doors and windows.
Why you should care: Most hurricane plans focus on the approach and the impact: tracking the storm, closing facilities, and confirming people are safe. The recovery phase often gets a single line that says “resume operations.”
Isaias is a reminder that recovery needs its own plan. Check in with employees in affected areas until essential services are restored, not just until the storm moves on. Send practical safety reminders about generators, downed lines, flooded roads, and other hazards that emerge after landfall. Plan redundant ways to communicate when normal channels are disrupted. And set clear guidance on when it’s safe to travel back to work.
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