PUERTO RICO: 1,400 DIED FROM HURRICANE BUT TOLL STILL AT 64

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico is estimating in a report to Congress that Hurricane Maria killed more than 1,400 people, though an island official said Thursday that the confirmed toll remains frozen at 64 pending a scientific review due out soon. The government, relying on updated statistics it first reported in June, said in a report to Congress detailing a $139 billion reconstruction plan that there were 1,427 more deaths from September to December 2017 than the average for the same time period over the previous four years. The territory’s government said that the additional deaths resulted from the effects of a storm that led to “cascading failures” in infrastructure across the island of 3.3 million people.