SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico--The government of Puerto Rico has now estimated in a report to Congress that Hurricane Maria killed more than 1,400 people, though the official death toll remains at 64.
The island’s government, citing updated statistics it first reported in June, said in its latest report to Congress in connection with a US $139 billion reconstruction plan that there were 1,427 more deaths from September to December 2017 than the average for the same time period over the previous four years.
The territory’s government said that the additional deaths resulted from the effects of a storm that led to a “cascading failures” in infrastructure across the island of 3.3 million people.
The administration of Governor Ricardo Rossello stopped updating its official death toll months ago and ordered an investigation amid reports that the number was substantially undercounted. Public Safety Department Secretary Hector Pesquera said the new total will reflect the findings of the investigation, which is expected in the coming weeks.
Hurricane Maria, which came just two weeks after Hurricane Irma passed near enough to cause damage to the island, knocked out power and water across Puerto Rico and caused widespread flooding that left many sick and elderly people unable to get medical treatment.
“The hurricanes’ devastating effects on people’s health and safety cannot be overstated,” the government said in its report.
The government has commissioned an independent epidemiological study by George Washington University and the Milken Institute of Public Health that is due in coming weeks.
Most of the deaths occurred not in the initial storm on September 20, but in the ensuing days and weeks when the island-wide electricity outage and roads blocked by downed power lines and other debris made it difficult to move around and emergency services were stretched beyond their capabilities.
New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who was born in Puerto Rico, has called for legislation that would establish federal standards for death counts after disaster.
“It has been tragically clear for some time that the devastation from Irma and Maria was many magnitudes worse than the official death toll suggested,” she said.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said “It has been crystal clear since just days after Hurricane Maria that we were not getting the complete story when it came to the death toll in Puerto Rico. Now, with the government of the island quietly announcing that more than 1,400 people died as a result of the storm, we know for a fact that the original estimates of the storm’s devastation were so greatly underestimated that they were essentially useless.
“The people of Puerto Rico did not imagine their deceased relatives, and the original death toll estimates following the storm of just 64 were insulting to our collective intelligence. This updated number, while possibly still far too low, is at least an acknowledgement that the consequences of Hurricane Maria were far greater than President Trump and his administration have been willing to admit.
“This is President Trump’s Katrina. He cannot escape that. His administration’s mediocre response to the storm and its failure throughout the ongoing recovery of Puerto Rico cement that as the president’s legacy to the island.”
Meanwhile, nearly a year after Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, officials there say power has now been restored to most of the island’s residents.
Of the nearly 1.4 million customers who lost electricity service after the storm, just 25 remain in the dark, the island’s electric provider tweeted on Monday. ~ Caribbean News Now! ~
