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Hurricane Maria: 4,645 Died in Puerto Rico From Storm in 2017, Study Says

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submitted by Diane Tucker

           

A tree toppled by Hurricane Maria rests over damaged graves in the Villa Palmeras cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in December 2017.  Mario Tama/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - STUDY - NEJM - Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

npr.org - by Richard Harris - May 29, 2018

Perhaps 5,000 people died in Puerto Rico in 2017 for reasons related to September's Hurricane Maria, according to a study that dismisses the official death toll of 64 as "a substantial underestimate."

A research team led by scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health didn't simply attempt to count dead bodies in the wake of the powerful storm. Instead, they surveyed randomly chosen households and asked the occupants about their experiences.

From that approach, they concluded that between Sept. 20 and Dec. 31, 2017, there were 4,645 "excess deaths" — that is, deaths that would not have occurred if the island hadn't been plunged into a prolonged disaster following the devastating storm.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Harvard study estimates thousands died in Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria

 

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CLICK HERE - REPORT - Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

bbc.com - August 29, 2018

Officials in Puerto Rico now say 2,975 people died following Hurricane Maria - a devastating storm that struck the US island territory in September 2017.

The revised death toll is nearly 50 times the previous estimate of 64.

Governor Ricardo Rossello "accepted" the findings in a long-awaited independent investigation . . .

 . . . The latest findings - accepted by the island's authorities - were made in a report by experts from George Washington University, which the governor commissioned.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Milken Institute School of Public Health estimates excess deaths due to Hurricane Maria and offers next steps to protect the most vulnerable communities

 

 

time.com - by Karl Vick - September 20, 2018

 . . . That unlikely tally, just 64, was the number preferred by President Donald Trump, who seemed to regard a low body count as evidence of competence . . . But in Puerto Rico, there was no debate.  Even amid the recriminations over the tardy, checkered federal response to Maria, survivors of the storm have always known it killed far more people than had been counted.  The evidence arrived over weeks and months at morgues and funeral homes across the U.S. territory of 3.3 ­million . . . 

CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE - In Puerto Rico, Many of the 3,000 Deaths Were Slow and Painful. Just Like the Recovery

 

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