Harvard study estimates a higher post-Maria death toll in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Perhaps about 5,000 people died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria in 2017, according to a study published on Tuesday by scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

It's the latest study to analyze how many people died during or after the Category 4 storm that hit the US territory in September 2017, causing more than an estimated $100 billion in damage.

The official death toll is only 64 due to the devastating storm slamming the island, which the study issued by the New England Journal of Medicine called "a substantial underestimate".