Category: Puerto Rico

Photo: AFP/GETTY

The BBC has published an article detailing new findings on Hurricane Maria’s death toll in Puerto Rico. While the official number is 64, a new Harvard University study estimates that the actual death toll is more than 4,600. Broken roads and extensive power outages interrupted medical care, contributing to a third of deaths after the hurricane. Six months after the storm, thousands of Puerto Ricans are still without electricity, and many are struggling to pay for expensive generators that run vital life support equipment.

Disruption to health care was a "growing…

Yasmin Morales Torres standing in what was left of a relative’s home in Yabucoa. In the storms’ devastation, the island all but slipped from the modern era. (Photo: Todd Heisler)

The New York Times published an article by James Glanz and Frances Robles. The article details how Hurricane Maria, the decisions of federal and local authorities, and the poorly maintained power grid have left many Puerto Ricans still in the dark. The lack of resources and the difficult terrain have also contributed to the delay in restoring electricity to the island as a whole.

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Five months after Hurricane Maria led them to flee Puerto Rico for New York, Enrique and Emma López returned recently to their home in Aguadilla, a small beach side town on the northwest corner of the island. (Photo: Christopher Gregory)

The New York Times published an article by Luis Ferré-Sadurní that follows Enrique and Emma López’s journey back to their home in Puerto Rico five months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Their story highlights the difficulties families are facing when loved ones return to their homes while others stay in the mainland US. Adult children…

The New York Times released a *documentary which details an unseen crisis developing in Puerto Rico, a crisis of mental health. Take the time to watch and hear the stories of Puerto Ricans still struggling with daily life after Hurricane Maria.

People kept telling me they couldn’t sleep. They were depressed. They were having panic attacks. And the hospitals were reporting that emergency rooms were filling up with people having suicidal thoughts.

Soon after Hurricane Maria’s devastating passage through Puerto Rico, RMF sent a team to conduct a needs assessment, bring some…

The Washington Post created an *interactive article and documentary which follows the lives of those in Puerto Rico who have been affected by Hurricane Maria. We encourage you to follow the stories to see how much everyday life has changed since Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017.

Puerto Rico’s apagón, or “super blackout,” is the longest and largest major power outage in modern U.S. history. Without electricity, there is no reliable source of clean water. School is out, indefinitely. Health care is fraught. Small businesses are faltering. The tasks of daily life…

Photo: Alvin Baez/Reuters

Although the official number of deaths because of Hurricane Maria was reported as 64, the New York Times provides an analysis which says the number might be actually much higher.

A review by The New York Times of daily mortality data from Puerto Rico’s vital statistics bureau indicates a significantly higher death toll after the hurricane than the government there has acknowledged. The Times’s analysis found that in the 42 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, 1,052 more people than usual died across the…

Good Money featured some photos from our last trip to Puerto Rico on their website. Read a small excerpt below.

"On Sept. 20, Category 4 Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. At landfall, the winds were up to 155 mph and immediately wiped out the island’s phone towers and power grids. The island would go on to experience record flooding, and two months later, around 60% of its residents were still without power. Recent reports show the death toll could exceed 1,000 people.

Although it’s hard to calculate the…