By Sarah Aarthun
CNN
PUERTO RICO — Puerto Rico’s Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló has ordered a review of deaths that might be related to Hurricane Maria, according to Yennifer Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Rosselló.
The official death toll stands at 64, but an in-depth investigation by CNN revealed that the number could be much higher.
In November, CNN called 279 funeral homes and reached nearly half of them. Of those, funeral directors reported 499 deaths they believe were related to Maria.
“I welcomed recent news analysis on the number of hurricane-related deaths, and that they may be higher than the official count certified to date,” the governor said in a statement. “The Government needs to (investigate_ if the increase of the deaths is related directly or indirectly with Hurricane Maria.”
Rosselló said that each death — regardless of the cause listed on the death certificate — must be reviewed to determine official numbers of hurricane deaths, not statistics alone.
“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 added.
The storm made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20 as a Category 4 hurricane. The energy grid was heavily damaged, causing an island-wide power outage. Damages are estimated between $45 billion and $95 billion.
Developing story – more to come
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