From the New York Times are Michael our this is the today after we're Maria Porter. We, whose government announced that just Steve for people had been killed by the storm, but the hunt rates of bodies showing up at moors across the island till a different story? it's Friday February night Milly me, but it's not millions mealy, Milly Milly, nothing someone Miss Miller, Bosnia. I live in the Bronx, a bureau of New York City, my family lives, important regal in the metropolitan area in a place called the while near someone in the sun. One area, can you tell me a bit about,

your father share, so my father, wholesale body feels everyone known to mess. Pepe, Debbie In the late fifties and Sixtys, the job situation was every dire on the island, So many folks were saying: New York has factories, ass jobs. You know go to New York. The living there, and so that was the biggest migration period of Puerto Ricans coming to New York City and he came and he can run I call him a very maternal man. He action negotiations with my mother when they were to be divorced. You say that no matter what I want to raise my daughter. That was an interesting thing for a man to say I want to be the primary caretaker that was person he was very gentle. How old were you when that happened? I always around like two and one slash two years old and did did he say:

even becoming the primary candidate, became the primary caretaker late? on he went back to Port Authority go did you go back to port? go with him. No, I didn't I didn't go. I was you know to finish school, which was a big deal for the family, and so we just visited every every summer, duly pictures of him yeah they control. So one I keep on my landscape on my own, Spain. That's him. That's what everyone has. With I blew wise enough. Wavy, hair, very slim, very gentle, very much dress and his gang of ETA, which is D. You know very elegant respite and in the island as occurred, double pocket. He had that's. Why do you wear,

Where were you really, when you first heard about Hurricane Mitch, yeah and what was your reaction to the news that it was headed for Amerika, so I was here in New York City. We were having communication with family members about how they were going to prepare people were ready that been hurricanes. Before it's an island is none world. Here you expected everything fine, you know I had no, Greece at all, but we never expected. It was gonna, be what happened. September, Twentieth came the storm hits early, Then I try to get after twenty four hours tried to call. Of course, all internet servant was now self service was down. You know say: you're like anxiously waiting is like. Oh, my goodness, what's happening was there any flooding,

later on. I was told that the air, of levied town into our? How was blotted or your father lived where my Father lives, where, There was no more rain, then the devastation with and that's where then he was having breathing problems, my father began complaining about respiratory issues. I can't breathe my cousin were the ones so we're saying deal, you know we ve gotta. Take you to a hospital. You gotta go to hospital, so we can see what the issue is so by the twenty second, two days later, he's taken to the hospital, that's where he was given oxygen to help. In brief, and of course you know the first indications I get from my cousin

is the issue of pneumonia and water in the lungs. So there's a diagnosis, there's a diagnosis that hospital at some point lost its source of oxygen That's really scary thing to happen is really scared because you're so thinking if they have no more oxygen, what else have they run out? And so you know you have no access to that information, So when this hospital says that if out of oxygen and tell your father what happens to them so once a hospital says you know we have the transfer you to another hospitals like us oxygen, the hospital itself pass an ambulance and pick some up, but some there and transfers him

so is admitted to the word and hospital number to the doktor was suggested to my father dead. You should play for the high two states when I heard that has like. While what did I tell you, that's a price me by folks get out as much as you can, because we can't do much here on this island right now. Also, a prerequisite is the United States, Puerto Rico. A colony of the United States, four hundred and seventeen years, and at this point, where are you I'm still in New York City, I'm trying to figure out how to get to port of Vigo. The first two weeks of the hurricane was,

hard. I looked up by an airline in all of October boys, but well, but I we found something I left for support direct on October nineteen. So now, along all them all ass. A month after an image as you were, flying in. I imagine Portugal As a familiar appearance from the sky, if you ve been there many times before. What did it look like and on this fight me we're just happy just to see it to sit. The island, was still there, though, yeah no, once you landed and ones saw. You know it was reverie devastating. Do you have some of them? those of us what you saw when you when you got on there on the ground. Everyone join me if you say so. I took this. Let's see these are palm trees. There were, you know, torn off the ground,

people's belongings. I want on the sale of roads. Mattresses, sulphurous boxes, pictures that roadside that just full of people belong. If those are those have been destroyed, destroyed by the flood tissues lettering at the hospital? Where my father was day, you can even tell what it says dies you met for the first time. You saw when you want to die, but I was having a lot of missing on Yemen. Have the letters were missing on the sign? What was the first thing? You said dear Father Nissan? Ah, ah Olaf happiest day a key. You know I'm here and I'm here approaches the Daily NEWS, but I was so happy to see he was sitting up there now his light blue eye. Shining. You know he look fine and the next day, where their early and ready to see him and they let us

they don't tell us anything and here's. My father is on a ventilator and then all of a sudden everything was going down. Multiple organ failure, we card, but at that point the hospital, the doctors. We can't do anything else. It's not going to be good. You know he's not go a lifeless, so by the end of October, on my father passed away, what do you think is ultimately Milly responsible your father's. I believe that my father's death was indirectly affected by the hurricane sell. The official source of death was subtext shock. The census which is the actuarial, my father and many others, those who couldn't make it to the hospital dose

couldn't get to insulin. Others, like my father, who was able to be in a hospital but may be. Other resources worn there. His death is an indirect head of Hurricane Muddy Joe. I have proof that things could have been different now, but I believe that If this had happened- and there was no hurricane- I will be you know celebrating with him today, but no, no, that's not the case. Now is not the case for me and is not the case, but my friend, whose husband died, not the case board, lots of others, I'm just one story right of some, so many many stories after the break a tie. Investigation puts a number two just how many stories I'll be right back.

How does your home impact your health which all reality, help million suffering from loneliness? I'm science, journalist Korea's power and I'm culture, credit Kristen mines? Are we teamed up with Invest coke Youtube? You t brand at the New York Times to create innovation uncovered the world, changing in real time, often in ways we can predict on innovation uncovered. We share stories about the groundbreaking people in technologies there reshaping our culture rate now. Listen though, wherever you get your podcast Invesco in basque or distributors ink very your was a great trip and a beautiful place. I've been to put every company time. President tromp arrived in Puerto Rico on October third, which was almost two weeks after

Hurricane Maria, had hit Francis will bless, has been investigating the deaf count in Puerto Rico. Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds under its and hundreds of people that died. He and Governor Russia, your head exchange about the death toll. What is your, what is your death camp as, if this moment, seven train people, certify trump would really remarked on how fantastic a wise. Then only sixteen people had died. You can be very proud of your people. All of our people work sixty versus literally thousands of people. They were

we thrill, and so we want it was actually kind of ironic because hours after he left the death toll, doubled the hurricane death toll. Meanwhile, more than double more than doubled to thirty four, where the Regos governor told me, the rising toll includes drownings than death from mudslides that had not been reported previously, and so you started to get a sense that things were known as they seemed different states count the dead differently, and it's it's a little controversial in the sense of whether you count a direct ass or an interactive. So you have your immediate number. How many people drowned? How many people had a tree come crashing through their hats to run land on their head. That's direct! Those are not debatable

They are what they are, and you know the big been Mimi, don't know the first day, but within the first few days they should generally have their head wrapped around that. Then it gets much murky here. Then you have people who died waiting for ambulances, Then you have people who the power went out in their house and their elderly in their temperature shot up or they can be got pneumonia. Their machines that they used to breathe did couldn't be power and some people committed suicide. So now do you count those debts, those are indirect, and so now here's the thing poor we go officially does count those deaths. So that's. Why there's this huge disconnect between what they say they are going to do and the numbers that they actually have come up. I can see no Jonathan way

not take long for us to start noticing that something was really was just a few days after the hurricane, I went to a lot of hospitals and I met people. Just you know in the parking lot size, and I met really desperate people who had gone to five or six different hospitals where it was let's say that I'm gonna get better before they could find that was open? There was accepting patients was very I met a man who was getting dialysis and he said that, because the place was operating on generator power, they were kind of rationing out the dialysis hours and he saw people drop dead right in front of him at the dialysis centre. Are you remember this?

I met a family dad. The father died of pneumonia because the machine that he uses to breathe required electricity. And now money laundering money Let me now There was rumours going around this one hospital in the south and bonds where several children had died in the intensive care. I became a little obsessed with that. I see you and I went on this mission to find the parents of the baby's that were in the union and I found it, I found one. She said she couldn't breathe. You know you could smell the mold in the air in a hospital without air conditioning how you going to tell me that babies and intense

Air is supposed to be in a hospital for over a month without air conditioning and then the baby next to her baby also died. So I found that child's parent and they said the same. There's no one. That's gonna convince them that if the hurricane hadn't pass their babies will not survive Those are just two examples in a little Nathan and say: yes, I bet those children Names are never gonna be on any list, but therefore- Please will never accept those debts not having been related to the hurricane and an ultimate failure by the house. But all by the government to take

CARE of the neediest and the weakest. So what you're, seeing Frenchy is growing evidence of deaths indirectly, resulting from hurricane worry us, so many death. They started dwarf this official figure from the government, which is still in the low thirties, and these indirect death should be countered by the government but its clear that their their not being counted. That's right. So the government, names that accounts indirect deaths, yet, as the evident started piling up, they will really in denial. Why? So? we November they decide to have a press conference where there in their minds. Finally gonna put to bed the issue of how many people died in the week. After the hurricane. Why so we get

other or this news conference- and it was, it was really exe. Joining earlier. This is long line of officials, including Hector Pascal, who is the Secretary of Public Safety in recon. He was the incident commander for the hurricane. So they get up there and they basically say they confirmed that four hundred and seventy seven people died in September. Two thousand seventeen over September, two thousand sixteen which represented about its when he percent increase salon. Yet the number of deaths certified as being related to the hurricane was still in the fifties that this huge surge of deaths was essentially a coincidence that, natural deaths Hector Pis ghetto. Basically said: people die in the months that they die

normally they had about eighty three deaths by day importer recall that lead normal average. Eighty two and then on September, twentieth the day of the hurricane. It jumps two hundred and seventeen per day may come from the impossible after gotta satisfies that you can get cs doses. Castles disappear minute jar and see that run wild weighing kimono coincidence here all over the world pulled out a second. How can you suddenly have that many more deaths today, and you think this is just a coincidence and he said well. The doctors have no reason to lie with steady onward indeed, I got out of the kind that is in the honor and so this conference goes on it and I start just kind of unravelling that guy, isn't that wonderful, floppy my arms around and opens taking me quite well.

Finally, I kind of just start losing my patients. To be honest, I must get up What Mr Muscat, Mr Vasco Da Gama, public safety perspective, isn't an important you and you said also: we have to investigate twenty nine thousand cases well know. But what about these five hundred? Don't you think that there should be some kind of more responsible? city by the government to make sure that the nursing homes and hospitals have adequate facilities to handle the blackout? You missed and emotions answer. He said. Why would they be an investigation so like this. The case in Hollywood? Were eight people died in one day? Were there any trends like that Why are you so why all right. All right, I'm just saying tat. You see any trends

one would think of a hospital. Were there was a lot of one. You know somebody seems like, because there was no ninety one system, meaning when it gets to pass for whatever me, I was really upset. I felt really strongly that if the government was not going to look deeply at these numbers that we work on which we were getting answer, the question of how many people died in point, so I spent the next- I guess two or three weeks, badgering, the Department of Health in Puerto Rico and the Governors Office and the secretary

of public safety for more statistics, and they would give me like a little bit of statistics and then I would want more and then I was in around this- isn't good enough, but I want this October. I want this four September or October. I want to see it by city. I want to see a cause of death. I think that was really driving them creed. But when the numbers came in, it was stunning. You know what you had to look at the charts and your draw just trot, and then it was like wow. How could these government officials be looking at these. Same numbers, which I got from them and not be determines to find out how people died as a result of that hurricane and how they can prevent.

Next time to? What exactly are you finding in these numbers that the government has given you, so what we did was we compared the twenty seventeen number of deaths to twenty sixteen and two thousand and fifteen? So just in case two thousand and sixteen was a fluke, we went back an extra year and what we found was that in the first forty two days after the hurricane one thousand and fifty two people additional people had died. In Puerto Rico, there had been a fifty percent increase in the number of people who died of sepsis. There had been a surge, of deaths in nursing homes and the highest cause of death was diabetes. There was a big jump in diabetes deaths and that a number of more than a thousand. How does that compare

with what at this point is still the official government that count the official government death count is still sixty. Four So what happens after you make public this reporting that you're doing that more than a thousand deaths are clearly the result, whether direct or indirect, of the storm. What is the reaction from a government that has been so reluctant to grapple with the question of after it was really fascinating, because a lot of different media outlets had already been picking at this issue. But there was something about our story that because it was- using the government's own statistics that really changed the narrative in Portugal, where the governments- They start saying. Well, ok, I guess maybe maybe there's some uncounted- that this warning pouring

governor is ordering an official recount. The death toll related to her Maria do that all currently stands at sixty four, but this is an important development in the New York Times and other outlets published statistics from the bottle he can government, but shoulder That's all may be more than a thousand change of tone, not just a development hearing the governor of border eagerly gunboat us adopt saying: looked, we acknowledge it, there is a need for investigation. We acknowledge that the number could be higher, and so a few weeks after our story came out, the governor announced that he was bordering a review of every natural death that occurred after the hurricane to determine where there were other factors such as waiting for an ambulance or lack of oxygen that was related to the hurricane. Now who is in charge of that review?

Pascal, the Secretary of Public Safety, who said? Why would we release Fringy, I'm a little confused about why the porter written government is being so resistant to this line of questioning enter this overall inquiry into how many people have actually died? The territory has just been ravaged by a horrible hurricane. It doesn't seem to have the resources that it needs to recover from in wooden. Porter ego want to show the world just how bad the storm had been and the scale of aid it needs. At this and wooden being candid about death count serve both of those purposes. I thought about this alive. You know my editor asked me a penalty a hundred times. He said

wouldn't they want to exaggerate the number of deaths so that they get more federal funding? I think it boils down to two things. First of all, you know how good is it for you politically? If you look like you or presiding over a unmitigated disaster that you could not control, Nobody wants that to be their legacy number one number two and I think, probably the more important reason and a little bit more of the cynical reason. Everything in Rico politically boils down to where your for statehood or against sneak because of the territory, not a state, a cause, it the territory to property, the United States and not not an actual state, and so the gun man. That's in power right now. There are the new progressive.

Already and their pro statehood so they're all about becoming the fifty first staked. So I dont think they believed that it behooves their mission to become the fifty first state. If president tromp comes to poor Rico and sees some says, all that can keep control over its natural disasters. Where hundreds of people are dying. I mean that's, not a good. Emma joined the union, an input Rico. It always boils down to that issue, even hurricane even a hurricane. Pretty. Thank you very much for your report. Thank you for having

Maybe people who decides and say well elites, of course, is where are your father died, but why does it matter so much? If he's, if he's counted, if he's not counted, officially yeah. You know, I think I'm on this, because first the government denied a lot o the number of court the night. The number of deaths deny dad we really were devastated, so this momentum of denial and it has to stop- and you know, people lost their lives. There are many indirect effects of the hurricane and

my father and everyone else is all or grandfather a mother or uncle lorry and our sister, or rather those debts to respect their lives have to be documented as hurricane affected. Really. Thank you very much. Thank you, Here's what else you need to know. If you work, President Obama's trillion dollar dad's trillion dollars how is it? Why are you four trillion? Our deficits? Will you just simply republican name on it, and I think we were going to see through this- the federal government once again shut down early Friday morning after Congress. Reading on the leaders short term spending bill missed the deadline to pass a new budget? The shut down was too

by a single Republican, Senator Rand Paw of Kentucky, who delete a vote on a sweeping spending agreement negotiated by leaders of both parties, because it would add to the nation state, And I really don't mind. Tension has never been to shut down government, but my intention is also not to keep it open and borrowing. One million dollars a minute, my intentions not to vote for bills. The cell was just keeping it open, but bills that actually spend so much money think they endanger our security, but by five thirty eight votes. And the house has voted to pass the Bible Listen spending deal by a wide margin. Ending the shutdown and- the DOW knows diving again today and what's been an incredibly volatile. We here are the major averages, and indeed they are trading at the loss of this session. The losses that down now

down over a thousand points just seconds ago stops plunged again today. I everybody looking at the lowest we had earlier this week, saw us go back through them and didn't like what they saw that this has been a roller coaster. Weak and more selling could be a head on Thursday. The stock market dropped shortly. For the second time in less than a week asked investors grow, Creasy equally certain that the Federal Reserve bank will raise interest rates, making it more expensive to borrow money, the stock It has now declined so much that it is entered. What economy call a correction, a drop of ten percent or more daily is produced by few about Lindsey, Garrison, Rachel Quest, any brown and e mail, Ike, stress, com, clear tennis, scatter, page coward,

and Michael Simon Johns, with editing help from the recent Anderson least Tobin is our executive producer. Samantha Hennig is our editorial director. Our technical manager is Brad and our sound engineer is Peter Sale- are themes, is bind him run, Burke and Ben lands of wonder special to sam- don't like an illusion. That's it, put it in Michael Barbaro, whereby you Monday.

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