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Puerto Rico increases Hurricane Maria death toll to 2,975
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 mayor of the capital, San Juan, accused the US government of deliberately downplaying the impact of the storm.
Puerto Rico has struggled to repair its infrastructure and power grid since the storm, and is asking US Congress for $139bn (£108bn) in recovery funds.
[...] The government's initial number was for those killed directly by the hurricane, crushed by collapsing buildings, drowned or hit by flying debris.
But the new report also counted those who died in the six months following the storm as a result of poor healthcare provision and a lack of electricity and clean water. Repeated power cuts also led to an increased number of deaths from diabetes and sepsis.
George Washington University (GWU) report: Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Previously: Puerto Rican Death Toll From Hurricane Maria May be Many Times Higher Than Official Estimate
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday August 29 2018, @09:25PM
After Hurricane Andrew in Miami, there were rumors of mass deaths of undocumented migrant farm workers being covered up.
Officially, there were 15 direct fatalities and 29 indirect fatalities in Florida, but I personally knew a man who was ~50 years old, diabetic, and so psychologically damaged by the storm (he literally seemed shell shocked, just dazed and depressed) that he went off his meds and ended up dying within months, he's not counted in the 29.
I never had any personal contact with evidence of a secret mass grave for the migrant farm workers, but the rumors did reach me from multiple independent sources.
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