Instead of reacting to President Trump’s tweet with outrage, let’s look at the facts. Even CNN is having a hard time nailing down the facts: “Puerto Rico’s true death toll from Hurricane Maria remains elusive as the storm’s one-year anniversary approaches” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018). “The island government raised the official death toll to 2,975 on Tuesday [8/28/2018] after maintaining for months that 64 people had died as a result of the storm” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018). “But the higher figure, based on the findings of researchers from George Washington University in a study commissioned by the US commonwealth’s government, is only an approximation, not a concrete list of names, according to Gov. Ricardo Rossello” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018). “This number can change. It could be less, it could be more, as time passes” (Rossello, quoted by CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
Notice two facts here.
Fact One: Up until last month the official death toll was 64. It only went up to 2,975 on August 28, 2018.
Fact Two: According to the governor of Puerto Rico, this number may still change.
Here is CNN’s timeline of how the numbers changed:
“In the chaos after the storm, the island’s public safety director, Hector M. Pesquera, said at least six people were killed” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
“Rossello told CNN two days after the storm hit that 13 people had died in the storm. That figure was based on reports from mayors on the island, but law enforcement authorities hadn't confirmed the total, the government said” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
“In December, public safety officials revised the official count to 64, adding some fatalities newly certified as indirect deaths related to the storm” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
“In a report to Congress, the government said documents show that 1,427 more deaths occurred in the four months after the storm than ‘normal,’ compared with deaths that occurred the previous four years” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018). “The 1,427 figure also appeared in a draft of the report – ‘Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation’ – which was published and opened for public comment July 9” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
The Weather Channel confirmed the source of the 2,975 number.
“At the end of August, the official death toll for Hurricane Maria increased from 64 to 2,975, likely the number President Trump refuted in his tweets. Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello raised the death toll after an independent study from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University found that doctors on the island were not trained properly in how to classify deaths after a disaster” (weather.com, 9/13/2018).
At least one politician saw these numbers and blamed the federal government for its response.
“The new official death toll, accepted by officials in Puerto Rico, caused some, such as New York Democrat Rep. Nydia Velazquez, to claim the U.S. government failed the people of Puerto Rico. ‘These numbers are only the latest to underscore that the federal response to the hurricanes was disastrously inadequate and, as a result, thousands of our fellow American citizens lost their lives,’ she said in a statement” (weather.com, 9/13/2018).
Keep in mind that this representative’s statement is not “fact”. It is her opinion.
Based on the numbers cited by CNN it can reasonably be concluded that the original official numbers were accurate for lives lost as a direct result of the hurricane. It can also reasonably be concluded that the newer, larger numbers were accurate for lives lost as an indirect result of the hurricane. The question then becomes, “Why?”
A FORTUNE.com article from 9/12/2018 may help with an answer to this question. According to this article, “A vast shipment of water bottles that were intended to be delivered to victims of 2017’s destructive Hurricane Maria appear to be still sitting, unused one year later, on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico.”
“Abdiel Santana, a member of a Puerto Rican police agency tasked with emergency response, shared photos on Facebook of a vast number of boxes covered in blue tarp on an airport runway. The boxes, Santana said, were delivered before Maria’s arrival” (FORTUNE.com, 9/12/2018).
“A CBS reporter who picked up on the viral photos of the unused water bottles confirmed that they were brought to the island and turned over to Puerto Rico’s central government” (FORTUNE.com, 9/12/2018).
“Last month, the New York Times reported that 10 trailers of food and other supplies were found rotting in a parking lot in Puerto Rico, where they were devoured by rats” (FORTUNE.com, 9/12/2018).
Based on the FORTUNE.com article, it can reasonably be concluded that the lives lost as an indirect result of the hurricane could have at least been reduced. Although the Puerto Rican government and the federal government are each blaming the other for the failure in response to the hurricane, the response did, in fact, happen. Once the food and water was there it could have been disbursed. The fact that it was not disbursed does not change the fact that it did arrive in Puerto Rico.
Notice two facts here.
Fact One: Up until last month the official death toll was 64. It only went up to 2,975 on August 28, 2018.
Fact Two: According to the governor of Puerto Rico, this number may still change.
Here is CNN’s timeline of how the numbers changed:
“In the chaos after the storm, the island’s public safety director, Hector M. Pesquera, said at least six people were killed” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
“Rossello told CNN two days after the storm hit that 13 people had died in the storm. That figure was based on reports from mayors on the island, but law enforcement authorities hadn't confirmed the total, the government said” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
“In December, public safety officials revised the official count to 64, adding some fatalities newly certified as indirect deaths related to the storm” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
“In a report to Congress, the government said documents show that 1,427 more deaths occurred in the four months after the storm than ‘normal,’ compared with deaths that occurred the previous four years” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018). “The 1,427 figure also appeared in a draft of the report – ‘Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation’ – which was published and opened for public comment July 9” (CNN.com, 8/29/2018).
The Weather Channel confirmed the source of the 2,975 number.
“At the end of August, the official death toll for Hurricane Maria increased from 64 to 2,975, likely the number President Trump refuted in his tweets. Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello raised the death toll after an independent study from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University found that doctors on the island were not trained properly in how to classify deaths after a disaster” (weather.com, 9/13/2018).
At least one politician saw these numbers and blamed the federal government for its response.
“The new official death toll, accepted by officials in Puerto Rico, caused some, such as New York Democrat Rep. Nydia Velazquez, to claim the U.S. government failed the people of Puerto Rico. ‘These numbers are only the latest to underscore that the federal response to the hurricanes was disastrously inadequate and, as a result, thousands of our fellow American citizens lost their lives,’ she said in a statement” (weather.com, 9/13/2018).
Keep in mind that this representative’s statement is not “fact”. It is her opinion.
Based on the numbers cited by CNN it can reasonably be concluded that the original official numbers were accurate for lives lost as a direct result of the hurricane. It can also reasonably be concluded that the newer, larger numbers were accurate for lives lost as an indirect result of the hurricane. The question then becomes, “Why?”
A FORTUNE.com article from 9/12/2018 may help with an answer to this question. According to this article, “A vast shipment of water bottles that were intended to be delivered to victims of 2017’s destructive Hurricane Maria appear to be still sitting, unused one year later, on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico.”
“Abdiel Santana, a member of a Puerto Rican police agency tasked with emergency response, shared photos on Facebook of a vast number of boxes covered in blue tarp on an airport runway. The boxes, Santana said, were delivered before Maria’s arrival” (FORTUNE.com, 9/12/2018).
“A CBS reporter who picked up on the viral photos of the unused water bottles confirmed that they were brought to the island and turned over to Puerto Rico’s central government” (FORTUNE.com, 9/12/2018).
“Last month, the New York Times reported that 10 trailers of food and other supplies were found rotting in a parking lot in Puerto Rico, where they were devoured by rats” (FORTUNE.com, 9/12/2018).
Based on the FORTUNE.com article, it can reasonably be concluded that the lives lost as an indirect result of the hurricane could have at least been reduced. Although the Puerto Rican government and the federal government are each blaming the other for the failure in response to the hurricane, the response did, in fact, happen. Once the food and water was there it could have been disbursed. The fact that it was not disbursed does not change the fact that it did arrive in Puerto Rico.