Death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria climbs to 34


Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced Tuesday night that the death toll there from Hurricane Maria has risen from 16 to 34.
The U.S. territory is still reeling from the devastating hurricane that hit on Sept. 20 — the governor's office said 95 percent of the island remains without power and just 47 percent of water customers have access to clean drinking water.
President Trump visited San Juan earlier Tuesday, and said that "every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the hundreds and hundreds of people that died ... you can be very proud [the death toll is] 16 people versus in the thousands." Rossello later said he believes that after flying over Puerto Rico and looking at the damage, Trump better understands how much destruction Maria caused, ABC News reports.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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