Current Events > Hurricane Maria Caused 2,975 Deaths In Puerto Rico, Independent Study Estimates

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https://www.npr.org/2018/08/28/642615337/hurricane-maria-caused-2-975-deaths-in-puerto-rico-independent-study-estimates

Independent researchers from the George Washington University have estimated that Hurricane Maria caused 2,975 deaths in Puerto Rico in the six months following the storm.

The researchers' findings had been long-awaited. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello commissioned the independent study in February, after months of public pressure over his administration's failure to adequately count the number of hurricane dead. At the time, he said the research team would have the Puerto Rican government's full cooperation, including access to all mortality data.

The new number represents a 22 percent increase over the number of deaths Puerto Rico would have expected had a hurricane not struck, researchers found. They also said those most at risk for death were poor people, and the elderly.

"The results of our epidemiological study suggest that, tragically, Hurricane Maria led to a large number of excess deaths throughout the island," Carlos Santos-Burgoa, the study's lead researcher, said in a statement. "We hope this report and its recommendations will help build the island's resilience and pave the way toward a plan that will protect all sectors of society in times of natural disasters."

Since December, the government's official hurricane death toll has been stuck at 64, though the government has acknowledged that number was far too low and would be adjusted once the researchers had completed their study.

It was unclear whether the island's government would adopt the researchers' estimate as its official toll. A spokesman for Gov. Rossello did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to their new death count estimate, the researchers found that the Puerto Rican government did a poor job communicating with the public about the death count, and more broadly did not have an adequate disaster communications plan in place, which the researchers said contributed to public confusion.

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Federal government didnt act their best, but I put the blame much more on the local government.
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JuanCarlos1 posted...

Federal government didnt act their best, but I put the blame much more on the local government.

Seems like the federal government was the one that dropped the ball tbh
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JuanCarlos1 posted...

the people with limitless resources didnt do anything, but I put the blame much more on the devastated government which couldn't handle it.

Fam_Fam posted...

JuanCarlos1 posted...

the people with limitless resources didnt do anything, but I put the blame much more on the devastated government which couldn't handle it.

Makes sense
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what were the feds supposed to do? PR is an ISLAND.

Surrounded by WATER.
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Fam_Fam posted...

JuanCarlos1 posted...

the people with limitless resources didnt do anything, but I put the blame much more on the devastated government which couldn't handle it.

I live in PR. Yes, the fed government took a while to properly respond and didnt do a 100% effort like with Harvey. Trump lifting the jones act for only a week was also very shitty.

But the local government is the first line of defense. They lacked a plan to deal with the situation.

Do you know that they hid trailers full of aid? Dozens of them.

We also have trailers of rotten bodies in front of our forensics place...9 to 10 months AFTER the hurricane.

And nobody is being held accountable. Thats what I want the feds to do. Arrest chiefs of agencies for bad handling that resulted in more deaths than it really shouldve.
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JuanCarlos1 posted...

Do you know that they hid trailers full of aid? Dozens of them.

Source?
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Muffinz0rz posted...

JuanCarlos1 posted...

Do you know that they hid trailers full of aid? Dozens of them.

Source?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-puertorico-storm-energy/puerto-rico-
governor-orders-probe-of-discovery-of-
hurricane-recovery-materials-idUSKBN1F02VU

https://dailycaller.com/2017/10/09/u-s-prosecutor-to-investigate-
puerto-rican-officials-accused-of-
preventing-aid-from-reaching-people/

Why did they underreport it so much?
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I blame JJ Watt.
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Amatsukaze posted...

Why did they underreport it so much?

The simple answer is that nobody cares about Puerto Rico.

Questionmarktarius posted...

The simple answer is that nobody cares about Puerto Rico.

seeing as their population are US citizens, they perhaps should consider emigrating to states with only one representative

500,000 per state

suddenly, more government leaders would care about them than anyone else!
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Darkman124 posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

The simple answer is that nobody cares about Puerto Rico.

seeing as their population are US citizens, they perhaps should consider emigrating to states with only one representative

500,000 per state

suddenly, more government leaders would care about them than anyone else!

Yeah well, nobody cares about Wyoming either.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Yeah well, nobody cares about Wyoming either.

barasso and enzi do, which is quite a lot more than care about puerto rico, what with their utter lack of representation
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