The estimated death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria was corrected — from 64 to 2,975

Jonathan Drake/Reuters

• The official death toll on Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, was raised to nearly 3,000 almost a year after the hurricane struck. 
• Maria's impact is nearly 5,000 percent worse than originally estimated.
• Hurricane Maria was the most powerful storm to strike the Caribbean island in almost a century.

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(Reuters) - The official death toll on Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm to strike the Caribbean island in almost a century, was raised on Tuesday from just 64 to nearly 3,000, based on a study ordered by the governor of the U.S. territory.

The report found that an estimated 2,975 deaths could be attributed directly or indirectly to Maria from the time it struck in September 2017 to mid-February of this year. The figure was derived from comparisons between predicted mortality under normal circumstances and deaths documented after the storm. 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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SEE ALSO: Puerto Rico just quietly conceded that Hurricane Maria killed over 1,300 more people than it originally estimated

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