So I came across two very weird death counts for floods recently, and I wonder, should these be counted in the official death count? The first case was I think in the recent australian floodings, where a guy died from the floods. The issue is not about the guy though, but about his wife, who commit suicide shortly afterwards. For some reason, her death was ascribed to the floods as well, despite never having touched them The other case was only today in a Dutch newspaper, where a guy in Limburg apparently drowned in a river with a heightened water level. How did he do this? By following his dog into the water even though he couldn't swim well. Should this be attributed to flood deaths or own stupidity?
Question. In earthquakes, it's common for water lines to become damaged, either contaminating them, or cutting them off all together. Dehydration and water borne illnesses are included in the death toll. Do you think they should be?
In that case, absolutely. Simply because there is no way around the deaths due to the earthquakes. The earthquake forces death on people. In this case (mostly the first, but also to a slight degree the second) it was a conscious choice after the lethality of the flooding faded that led to the deaths.
I know him personally and can say he was not washed away We're about 700km south of where this happened. Imo such deaths should be counted in the death toll but also counted seperately to give a better idea of the cost of the floods.
No reason why the death should be attributed to the flood when the two people were not killed directly by the flood because they couldn't escape. Especially for the suicide case.
