Study puts Puerto Rico hurricane deaths at 4,645
News agency
Tuesday, May 29, 2018, 2:45 PM - A Harvard University study published Tuesday estimated at least 4,645 people died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria last fall, seventy times the official death toll of 64.
Hurricane Maria crashed into the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, and eight months later the death toll from the devastating storm is still a matter of serious dispute.
The official government count at the time of writing is 64 fatalities.
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Independent media reports have put the toll at over 1,000.
And on Tuesday, a Harvard University study estimated 4,645 people died as a result of the Hurricane.
The Harvard study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, surveyed almost 3,300 randomly selected Puerto Rican households, and found mortality rates leaped 62 percent from September 20th through the end of 2017, compared with the year before.
They counted not just direct deaths, but also those who died due to storm-related delays in medical treatment for injuries, infections, and chronic illness.
The U.S. government's disaster response came under heavy criticism in the hurricane's aftermath.
President Donald Trump, who visited the island in October, appeared to downplay the devastation, compared modest early figures with the 1,800 people who died in 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
The Harvard study states that its estimate of over 4,600 deaths is probably conservative.
A number of organizations have sued for access to Puerto Rico's death certificates.
In response to pressure, the island requested outside experts from George Washington University review its process, and an initial report is expected in coming weeks.
Puerto Rico has still not fully restored its power grid, wrecked by Hurricane Maria.
The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1.
