Hurricane Maria: ‘Neglect’ Caused Thousands of Deaths on Puerto Rico
Local Editor
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday estimated that some 4,645 people died following the September 2017 landfall of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico - not 64, the official death toll.
Puerto Rico's official count of 64 is a "substantial underestimate" and "it underscores the inattention of the US government to the frail infrastructure of Puerto Rico," the study added.
Researchers came to their conclusion by surveying some 3,299 households across the island and inquiring as to how many people within the home died from injuries and illness sustained as a result of the hurricane.
Officials later compared their results to the island's official mortality statistics from 2016 to determine their estimates.
When the hurricane hit on September 20, 2017, Puerto Rico suffered a massive blackout, losing all electrical power on the entire island, leaving hospitals, clinics and emergency responders struggling to provide medical attention.
Months after Maria made landfall, the island struggled to fully restore its power grid.
Proving just how fragile Puerto Rico's power grid is, nearly 40 percent of the island's population lost power in April 2018 when a tree fell on a major power line in the capital of San Juan.
Researchers noted in the study that they had no other choice than to use data from 2016 to determine an estimate for Hurricane Maria-related deaths because the Puerto Rican government declined to share its mortality data for 2017.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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