Hurricane’s death toll in Puerto Rico put at nearly 3,000
Hurricane Maria killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico in the desperate, sweltering months after the storm – almost double the previous government estimate – with the elderly and impoverished hit hardest, according to an independent study ordered by the U.S. territory.
Section:Gallery
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A Puerto Rican national flag is mounted on debris of a damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in the seaside slum La Perla, San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 5, 2017. An independent investigation ordered by Puerto Ricos government estimates that nearly 3,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria. The findings issued Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University contrast sharply with the official death toll of 64.
Ramon Espinosa Associated Press
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A woman places one of the hundreds of shoes in memory of those killed by Hurricane Maria in front of the Puerto Rico Capitol, in San Juan, Friday, June 1, 2018. Puerto Rico's Institute of Statistics announced that it has sued the U.S. territory's health department and demographic registry seeking to obtain data on the number of deaths following Hurricane Maria as a growing number of critics accuse the government of lacking transparency.
Ramon Espinosa Associated Press
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FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2017 file photo, homes and other buildings destroyed by Hurricane Maria lie in ruins in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's governor on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 ordered authorities to review all deaths reported since Hurricane Maria hit nearly three months ago amid accusations that the U.S. territory has vastly undercounted storm-related deaths.
Gerald Herbert Associated Press
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