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Harvard study estimates thousands died in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria
The Washington Post ^ | 5/29/18 | By Arelis R. Hernández and Laurie McGinley

Posted on 05/29/2018 8:47:51 AM PDT by cll

CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO — At least 4,645 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria and its devastation across Puerto Rico last year, according to a new Harvard study released Tuesday, an estimate that far exceeds the official government death toll, which stands at 64.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that health-care disruption for the elderly and the loss of basic utility services for the chronically ill had significant impacts across the U.S. territory, which was thrown into chaos after the September hurricane wiped out the electrical grid and had widespread impacts on infrastructure. Some communities were entirely cut off for weeks amid road closures and communications failures.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hurricane; maria; puertorico
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To: cll

Yeah but look who conducted the study. My local sewer has more credibility than todays Harvard.


21 posted on 05/29/2018 9:11:39 AM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (Vox populi, vox dei)
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To: ken in texas

I’ve heard it’s killer!


22 posted on 05/29/2018 9:12:14 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: NautiNurse; johniegrad; SE Mom; DAVEY CROCKETT; The Westerner; ameribbean expat; Impy; ...

Courtesy ping.

Heartbroken. We all knew it was far worse than the government cared to share. Thousands died as a result of the failure of life support systems.

Heartbroken.


23 posted on 05/29/2018 9:14:59 AM PDT by cll (Serviam!)
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To: cll

A study. Who paid for the study? What’s wrong with the government’s official number? The government has an incentive to keep the number high, so I believe the government number and not the academic idiots’ number.


24 posted on 05/29/2018 9:19:27 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Calling all Whites racist, is itself racist.)
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To: marron

It also highlights one of the problems with modern medication prescriptions. They presume that you will always be able to get to the pharmacy in the week before your prescription runs out.


25 posted on 05/29/2018 9:21:40 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: I want the USA back

The Puerto Rico government is refusing to release the Forensics Sciences Institute’s (the island’s coroner) data on hurricane and post hurricane deaths.

It seems like the real numbers will highlight the incompetence of the government’s response to the crisis. That’s, the Puerto Rico government. That’s their motivation.


26 posted on 05/29/2018 9:29:16 AM PDT by cll (Serviam!)
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To: cll
What, PR is so backward they can't do the count themselves? Right there on the island vs. some Ivy libs sitting in a classroom.

"Nobody was ready. This was a monster and we all had to improvise,”

BS. The entire world, with the exception of a couple of pygmy tribes in the Amazon jungle, knew about it 2 weeks prior. Guess PR had never experienced the annual hurricane season.

27 posted on 05/29/2018 9:29:51 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: cll

How many people has Obamacare killed?


28 posted on 05/29/2018 9:30:12 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Ads for Chappaquiddick warn of scenes of tobacco use. What about the hazards of drunk driving?)
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To: I want the USA back
The government has an incentive to keep the number high

The higher the death toll, the more aide $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

29 posted on 05/29/2018 9:34:07 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: marron

Failure of life support systems due to the prolonged blackout and shortage of generator fuel during the aftermath. To me it’s highly believable. I personally know of two coworkers whose parents didn’t survive, one because they couldn’t keep the oxygen machine going. The other one because of bed ulcers. And that’s just me.


30 posted on 05/29/2018 9:34:51 AM PDT by cll (Serviam!)
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To: marron

“This surprises me. Everything there is built of concrete... You’d think it would be absolutely bullet-proof.”

Surely you gest! Most of PR is a ghetto with homes built to withstand nothing! Go there and see for yourself. I have, and outside San Juan, the place is a toilet.


31 posted on 05/29/2018 9:35:09 AM PDT by vette6387
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To: cll
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine

Who paid for the study?

Who conducted the study?

What is the study methodology? i.e. what constitutes a "death" caused by the hurricane?

Inquiring minds want to know.

32 posted on 05/29/2018 9:36:09 AM PDT by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: cll

Incredible. Heartbreaking if accurate. It will take some time to digest all of the info addressed in this WaPo story. It will likely take years of research to sort through the accuracy of the numbers.


33 posted on 05/29/2018 9:39:49 AM PDT by NautiNurse (Do not make me pay Ferrari prices for Chevy Vega health insurance.)
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To: ltc8k6

P.R. Is still at sixes and sevens. The corruption the opportunistic strikes and incompetent leadership makes the ripe for a repeat.


34 posted on 05/29/2018 9:42:11 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: cll
Most everyone knew that the death toll was in the thousands,

Really? Some supporting data would be necessary for this "most everyone" to know that.

My neighbor who works utilities just got back from Puerto Rico and knows of no such thing. No ransacking mobs, no endless burials, no bodies lying in the streets.

His take is that electricity for many of the locals not living in the cities is a convenience, not a necessity. They are glad to get it back but are managing without it.

35 posted on 05/29/2018 9:46:05 AM PDT by pfflier
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To: cll

So, (thinking in terms of myself, seeing as I’m also in the hurricane zone...) a generator and fuel to last?

I realize how lucky we were. Irma went right over the top of us, but we suffered no damage and only 24 hours without power.

But there is always next year, so I want to be better prepared than I was last time.


36 posted on 05/29/2018 9:59:17 AM PDT by marron
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To: vette6387

I did live outside of San Juan, and most everything is built of concrete. But unfortunately the power grid is held together with baling wire and duct tape, it seems. As are the politics, which is I guess why it took so long to get everyone back on line.


37 posted on 05/29/2018 10:01:11 AM PDT by marron
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To: pfflier

The data is in the island’s coroner’s office, who refuses to release it. These are lives lost due to the failure of life support systems. Not all died at once. We had almost no functioning hospitals for at least two weeks. How many people were in ICU? How many people were turned back at the ER because there were no ERs? How many people died at home because their oxygen machines failed (I know at least one). When you consider that, then it makes sense. Of course this is an estimate. But if the PR government would release its hard data, we would know for sure.

BTW, the mainland utility companies didn’t get here until the chaos of the immediate aftermath had already been sorted out. I don’t wish those first couple of weeks on anyone. And I was of the lucky ones.


38 posted on 05/29/2018 10:03:09 AM PDT by cll (Serviam!)
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To: cll
Complete BS.

"The research team randomly selected 3,299 households in Puerto Rico. Local scientists surveyed them over the course of three weeks in January. People in those homes reported a total of 38 deaths"

That is complete BS. The whole purpose of the study was to produce propaganda.

39 posted on 05/29/2018 10:09:25 AM PDT by palmer (...if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive)
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To: a fool in paradise

More than allowed?
Party on, and follow his bloody hand prints (you cannot avoid them)


40 posted on 05/29/2018 10:11:49 AM PDT by V K Lee (Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken. - US Pres. Donald J. Trump)
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