SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Monday 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.
Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in a statement that it’s possible the toll is higher than the 64 deaths currently blamed on the Category 4 hurricane that hit on Sept. 20 with winds of up to 154 mph (248 kph), causing up to an estimated $95 billion in damage.
“We always expected that the number of hurricane-related deaths would increase as we received more factual information — not hearsay— and this review will ensure we are correctly counting everybody,” he said. “We also want the most accurate count and understanding of how people lost their lives to fully account for the impact of these storms, and to identify ways in which we can prevent fatalities in advance of future disasters.”
Previously, Rossello’s administration had repeatedly defended the official count of hurricane-related deaths even though demographers said a spike in the average number of deaths after the hurricane was not normal.
While the current death toll includes some who died of heart attacks, suicide and respiratory failure, critics say it fails to account for all of those for which the storm and the hardships it caused were contributing factors.
Relatives of victims note that the storm left the entire island of 3.4 million people without power, including hospitals and nursing homes caring for people on respirators or other electric equipment.
Officials have said the average number of daily deaths increased from 82 to 117 after the storm, with a total of 2,838 deaths reported in September, a 20 percent increase from the 2,366 deaths reported for the same month in 2016 and up from 2,242 in September 2015.
Rossello said the government has to investigate whether the increase in deaths is directly or indirectly tied to Hurricane Maria.
“Every life is more than a number, and every death must have a name and vital information attached to it, as well as an accurate accounting of the facts related to their passing,” he said.
Officials with the government’s forensic institute have said many recent death certificates they received did not state whether lack of power could have been a factor.
I guess better late than never. But I would respectfully suggest PR you need a new governor. Why? He should have been on this like a licked stamp from before Maria hit. It is his obligation as governor to look after the welfare of the commonwealth’s citizens. Anything less is dereliction of duty. No apparatus in place to gather this information? Hurricanes in the Caribbean are not new. What were you waiting on the rapture?
"Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous – hundreds and hundreds of people that died – and you look at what happened here with, really, a storm that was just totally overpowering … no one has ever seen anything like this.
“16 people certified. Sixteen people versus in the thousands. You can be very proud of all of your people and all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud. Everybody watching can really be very proud of what’s taken place in Puerto Rico.”
Cockholster then gave himself an A-plus and a 10:30 tee time.