--- title: President Trump Denies That 3,000 Died After Hurricane Maria description: President Trump said Thursday that Democrats made up the Hurricane Maria death toll to make him look bad canonical: https://time.com/5395126/trump-hurricane-maria-death-toll/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-13T14:34:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T17:38:53.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: A Study Found That 3,000 People Died After Hurricane Maria. President Trump Denies It og:description: He blamed his political opponents for the death toll. og:url: https://time.com/5395126/trump-hurricane-maria-death-toll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a344d9a257c15e4/698939bcfb4eac437c897984/trump-china-impose-tariffs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5544 og:image:height: 3119 og:image:alt: trump-china-impose-tax og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Study Found That 3,000 People Died After Hurricane Maria. President Trump Denies It twitter:description: He blamed his political opponents for the death toll. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a344d9a257c15e4/698939bcfb4eac437c897984/trump-china-impose-tariffs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 07:03 video:published: 2018-09-13 section: health topics: Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico, death toll counting, excess deaths, household surveys, death certificates, interrupted medical care, power outages, disaster planning, health care infrastructure genre: documentary, explainer tones: somber, analytical, urgent, critical emotions: sadness (high), concern (high), anger (medium) sentiment: negative audience: general news viewers, public health professionals, emergency planners, policy makers, researchers people: Governor of Puerto Rico organizations: Harvard, George Washington University content_suitability: disasters [00:00-07:03]; death [00:14-07:03]; tragedy [04:02-04:50]; politics [00:36-01:03] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # A Study Found That 3,000 People Died After Hurricane Maria. President Trump Denies It > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7f8e2716-4f5e-4473-bea0-2c76000f9fa4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Counting a Tragedy [Watch (HLS stream): Counting a Tragedy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8Dy5kKRb.m3u8) (7:03)  _Published 2018-09-13. There has been much debate over the death count in Puerto Rico following hurricane maria. Meet the experts who set out to find a more accurate number._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video examines how deaths from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico were counted. It describes the initial official toll of 64, a household survey-based estimate, and a later George Washington University study that produced a figure of 2,975. Experts explain why death certificates miss indirect causes such as interrupted medical care. A family member recounts her father's death after the storm, and experts argue that disaster planning must account for infrastructure failure and vulnerable health care facilities. ## Key points - The official death toll rose to 64, although other reports indicated it might be more than a thousand. (00:14) - Early on, officials relied on death certificates showing specific storm-related causes, such as a tree falling on someone, while researchers suspected the true impact was much larger. (01:12) - A household-based survey sampled barrios, which number 902 across the island, divided by remoteness, with data collectors using tablets to survey individuals at randomly placed building points. (01:39) - The survey found about 800 to 8,000 excess deaths, with a midpoint of 4645, the number seen in the media. (02:18) - The Puerto Rican government approached researchers because it lacked a solid and accurate number for the hurricane's mortality impact. (02:38) - George Washington University researchers arrived at 2,975 by comparing death records from September 2017 to February 2018 with past years. (03:02) - Death certificates lack enough information on circumstances, and there is no training to record cases such as a person on a home oxygen system who loses power. (03:20) - One third of deaths in the interviewed households were attributed to delayed or interrupted medical care, including lack of equipment, unreachable clinics, absent doctors and failed 911 access. (04:50) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 01:03] Why Death Counts Matter Politically. Opening conditions after Maria and a discussion of how politicized numbers, such as comparisons to Katrina, can corner officials. - [01:03 to 01:39] Official Toll Versus Researchers' Suspicions. The 64 figure is criticized as minimizing the hurricane's impact, and researchers set out to gather their own data. - [01:39 to 02:38] Household Survey Method and Findings. Researchers describe door-to-door surveys across barrios and their estimate of 800 to 8,000 excess deaths. - [02:38 to 03:20] George Washington University Study. The government commissions a new count, producing 2,975 by comparing death records with past years. - [03:20 to 04:02] Death Certificate Limitations. An expert explains why indirect deaths, such as loss of home oxygen power, are not captured on certificates. - [04:02 to 04:50] A Daughter Recounts Her Father's Death. A family member describes her father's final weeks and the ambulance that never arrived. - [04:50 to 07:03] Interrupted Care and Disaster Planning. Experts discuss medical care disruption, prior storms, infrastructure dependence and the need for more resilient health facilities. ## Key quotes - [01:03] Unnamed speaker: "Numbers matter. And saying that there were only 64 deaths made it seem as if the impact of the hurricane was insignificant." - [03:41] Expert: "If that leads to their death, to me, that is a storm-related death." - [04:22] Daughter of a man who died: "My father died in the house. That night, he called for an ambulance. The ambulance never arrived." - [04:50] Researcher: "One third of the deaths in the households we interviewed were attributed to delayed" - [06:26] Expert: "If you lose power, you're going to risk loss of life." ## Questions this video answers - How many deaths did the official toll initially report after Hurricane Maria? [00:14] - How did researchers conduct the household survey to estimate deaths? [01:39] - What numbers did the Harvard-linked survey and the George Washington University study produce? [02:18] - Why do death certificates undercount storm-related deaths? [03:20] - What share of deaths in surveyed households was linked to interrupted medical care? [04:50] - What lessons do experts draw for future disaster planning? [06:26] ## Content suitability - disasters [00:00-07:03]: Covers the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, including island-wide power loss and risks from future storms. - death [00:14-07:03]: Discusses death tolls and estimates ranging from 64 to thousands of deaths. - tragedy [04:02-04:50]: A daughter describes her father's death after an ambulance failed to arrive. - politics [00:36-01:03]: Discusses politicization of death counts and officials being handed numbers to compare with Katrina. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:38 PM UTCPublished: Sep 13, 2018 2:34 PM UTC There has been much debate over the death count in Puerto Rico following hurricane maria. Meet the experts who set out to find a more accurate number. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:38 PM UTCPublished: Sep 13, 2018 2:34 PM UTC An independent study found that [2,975 people died in the six months after Hurricane Maria](http://time.com/5380987/white-house-hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-death-toll/), leading Puerto Rico’s governor in late August to raise the official death toll for the disaster. But with [another hurricane bearing down on North Carolina](http://time.com/5394827/hurricane-florence-north-carolina-preparation/) Thursday morning, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to argue, without evidence, that “3,000 people did not die” and that the numbers were made up by his political opponents to make him look bad. “When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths,” Trump tweeted. “As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3,000.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1040217897703026689) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1040220855400386560) The official death toll has been contested since the hurricane struck in the fall of 2017\. In the immediate aftermath, Puerto Rico officials had said that only 64 died from the storm, but news reports indicated that many more had died as a result of problems caused by the hurricane. In August, researchers with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University released a study into deaths caused both directly and indirectly by the hurricane which came up with the 3,000 figure. Trump has also argued that the government’s [response to Hurricane Maria](http://time.com/5393377/trump-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-unsung-success/) an “unsung success” and arguing it was unappreciated because Puerto Rico is “an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan.” However, [an internal report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency](https://www.npr.org/2018/07/14/629131912/fema-internal-report-cites-problems-with-agencys-response-to-hurricane-maria) released in July found that the agency failed to prepare properly for Maria or provide enough supplies to the island. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5395126/trump-hurricane-maria-death-toll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5395126/trump-hurricane-maria-death-toll/"},"headline":"A Study Found That 3,000 People Died After Hurricane Maria. 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