Reading mode Exit reading mode

Hurricane Maria and the Federal Abandonment of Puerto Rico

Maria caused the largest blackout in U.S. history and destroyed Puerto Rico's infrastructure. The Trump administration delayed FEMA resources, deployed far fewer personnel and supplies than comparable mainland disasters, slow-walked waiver of the Jones Act, sent paper towels rather than aid at a critical moment, and accused Puerto Rican officials of corruption when they asked for more help. Harvard researchers estimated 2,975 excess deaths; the Trump administration initially reported 64.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 5 of 5: War Crime / Crime Against Humanity

Conduct that satisfies the legal elements of a war crime under the Rome Statute (Article 8), a crime against humanity (Article 7), or genocide (Article 6). Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
Puerto Rico, U.S. Territory
Category
Federal Dismantlement
Legal posture
Reported
War-crime classification
Potential
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Civilian casualties
2,975
Sources
6 cited
Stable ID
hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-response
Victims
Estimated 2,975 excess deaths above normal mortality baseline in Puerto Rico in the months following Hurricane Maria (Harvard School of Public Health, 2018)
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, President of the United States— White House
  • Brock Long, FEMA Administrator— FEMA

Key points

  • The Trump administration initially reported 64 deaths; a Harvard School of Public Health study later estimated 2,975 excess deaths — nearly 50 times higher
  • Puerto Rico lost nearly all electrical power and the grid was not restored to 95% capacity for nearly a year; deaths from lack of power to medical equipment were documented
  • Trump visited Puerto Rico 12 days after landfall and threw paper towels into a crowd of hurricane victims — a moment widely seen as dismissive of their suffering
  • FEMA deployed far fewer personnel and distributed far fewer supplies in Puerto Rico than in Texas (Harvey) or Florida (Irma) in the same hurricane season
  • The Jones Act — a 1920 shipping law that prevented foreign vessels from delivering aid to Puerto Rico — was waived only after 10 days and significant public pressure; it was waived immediately for Texas and Florida
  • Trump tweeted attacks on San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz when she criticized the federal response, saying Puerto Rican officials 'want everything to be done for them'
  • FEMA contracted a one-person company with $30,000 in assets to deliver 30 million meals to Puerto Rico; the contract was canceled after only 50,000 meals were delivered

Overview

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, it destroyed virtually the entire electrical grid of a U.S. territory of 3.4 million American citizens — the worst sustained power outage in U.S. history. What followed was a federal disaster response that was, by almost every measurable metric, dramatically slower and less resourced than the response to Harvey (Texas) and Irma (Florida) in the same hurricane season.

The disparity was stark. FEMA deployed fewer personnel to Puerto Rico per capita, distributed fewer supplies, and took longer to waive the Jones Act shipping restriction — which was waived immediately for the mainland states. When Puerto Rico's mayor pleaded on television for help while wading through floodwaters, Trump attacked her on Twitter.

The Death Toll Controversy

The federal government initially reported 64 deaths from Maria. The Puerto Rican government conducted its own analysis, which produced similar low numbers. In May 2018, a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health estimated 2,975 excess deaths above the normal mortality baseline in the six months following the storm — deaths from lack of medical power, contaminated water, delayed medical care, and other indirect but storm-caused causes.

Puerto Rico officially adopted the 2,975 figure in August 2018. Trump's response was to tweet that the death toll was "done by the Democrats" to make him look bad — a claim that was false. The study was conducted by an independent academic institution; its findings were confirmed by an additional government-commissioned study.

Comparative Federal Response

An AP analysis found that FEMA spent approximately $1 billion less in Puerto Rico than in Texas after Harvey and Florida after Irma, despite Puerto Rico suffering comparable or greater physical destruction per capita. The GAO documented numerous coordination failures in the federal response, including a notorious contracting scandal in which FEMA awarded a $156 million contract to provide 30 million meals to a company with one employee and $30,000 in assets — which delivered approximately 50,000 meals before the contract was terminated.

Racial and Colonial Context

Puerto Rico is a majority-Hispanic U.S. territory whose residents are American citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections. Civil rights scholars and commentators drew direct connections between the inadequate federal response and the racial composition of Puerto Rico's population — comparing the contrast with the more vigorous responses to Harvey and Irma, which primarily affected mainland white communities.

Trump dismissed these comparisons and maintained that the federal response to Maria was "an incredible, unsung success."

International law engaged

InstrumentProvisionWhat it protects or prohibits
International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsArticle 6Right to life — state obligation to protect life includes adequate disaster response for its own citizens; discriminatory neglect causing mass death is a violation
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsArticle 12Right to the highest attainable standard of health — failure to restore medical infrastructure for months violated this right

Update log

  1. Updated with Trump's denial of the death toll and Puerto Rico's official revision.

  2. Updated with Puerto Rico's official revision of the death toll to 2,975.

Sequence of events

  1. Hurricane Maria makes landfall

    Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds. Nearly the entire electrical grid — serving 3.4 million U.S. citizens — is destroyed. Major hospitals, water treatment plants, and communications infrastructure are knocked out.

  2. Trump attacks San Juan mayor on Twitter

    San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz tearfully pleads for federal help while wading through floodwaters. Trump responds on Twitter calling her leadership 'poor' and accusing Puerto Ricans of 'want[ing] everything to be done for them.'

  3. Jones Act waived — 7 days after landfall

    Trump waives the Jones Act shipping restriction for Puerto Rico — but only for 10 days, and only after significant public pressure. The Jones Act had been waived immediately for Texas and Florida after Harvey and Irma.

  4. Trump visits Puerto Rico — throws paper towels

    Trump visits Puerto Rico 12 days after landfall. In a widely criticized moment, he throws paper towels into a crowd of storm victims at a relief distribution center. He compares Maria favorably to 'a real catastrophe like Katrina' and praises the low (official) death toll of 16.

  5. Power still out for most of the island

    Three months after Maria, power has been restored to less than half the island. People on dialysis, ventilators, and other power-dependent medical equipment are dying. Puerto Rico's official death toll remains under 100.

  6. Harvard study: 2,975 excess deaths

    Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health publish a study in the New England Journal of Medicine estimating 2,975 excess deaths above the normal mortality baseline in the six months following Maria — nearly 50 times the official count.

  7. Puerto Rico officially revises death toll to 2,975

    The government of Puerto Rico officially revises the death toll to 2,975, confirming the Harvard study's methodology and findings.

  8. Trump tweets that the death toll is a Democratic fabrication

    Trump tweets that the death toll of 3,000 is 'done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico.' This is factually false — the study was conducted by Harvard researchers and confirmed by the Puerto Rican government.

Sources

  1. Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria — New England Journal of Medicine / Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health archived ✓
  2. Trump Visits Puerto Rico and Lobs Paper Towels Into a Crowd — The New York Times
  3. Nearly 3,000 people died in Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico is now revising the official death toll. — The Washington Post
  4. FEMA spent $1 billion less on Puerto Rico than on Texas, Florida after storms — The Associated Press
  5. 2017 Hurricanes and Wildfires: Initial Observations on the Federal Response and Key Recovery Challenges — Government Accountability Office
  6. Trump Waives Jones Act For Puerto Rico Relief — NPR

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

About our editorial methodology →

Related records

Similar by category, grade and tags.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Hurricane Maria: Catastrophic Federal Failure in Puerto Rico

    Puerto Rico lost nearly all electrical power — the largest power outage in U.S. history at that point. FEMA's response was slower and less resourced than its response to simultaneous Hurricane Harvey in Texas. The Jones Act (prohibiting foreign ships from transporting cargo between U.S. ports) was waived immediately for Texas and Florida but not for Puerto Rico until 11 days after landfall. Trump attacked Mayor Cruz personally, calling her 'nasty' and suggesting Puerto Ricans wanted 'everything done for them.' Trump's visit ten days after the storm became notorious when he tossed paper towel rolls into a crowd of disaster survivors. Harvard's independent study estimated 4,645 deaths attributable to the storm and its aftermath — 73 times the official government count.

  • Grade 5 of 5: War Crime / Crime Against Humanity

    COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Deliberate Downplaying and Policy Failures Leading to Hundreds of Thousands of Preventable Deaths

    Bob Woodward's taped interviews revealed Trump said in February 2020 that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' and 'more deadly than even your strenuous flus' — while publicly calling it 'no worse than the flu' and 'a Democratic hoax.' The administration rejected WHO tests, blocked CDC mask guidance, slow-walked ventilator production, pressured states to reopen prematurely, promoted hydroxychloroquine against scientific evidence, and suggested people inject disinfectant. By Inauguration Day 2021, 400,000 Americans were dead.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Puerto Rico Paper Towels: Trump's Response to 3,000 Deaths — Trophy Moment

    Trump visited Puerto Rico nine days after a storm that killed nearly 3,000 people and left the island without power for months — the longest blackout in U.S. history. His visit featured a trophy-style photo op where he tossed paper towels to survivors. He told them their death toll compared favorably to 'a real disaster like Katrina.' Months later, as the official death toll was revised upward toward 3,000, Trump claimed the number was fabricated. Puerto Rico remained without power for 11 months in some areas — the longest blackout in U.S. territory history. FEMA's response was widely criticized as inadequate.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Hurricane Irma: Virgin Islands and Federal Disaster Response Disparities

    Hurricane Irma was among the most powerful Atlantic storms ever recorded at the time of landfall. The U.S. Virgin Islands sustained catastrophic damage: Saint John lost 90% of its structures, the power grid was destroyed, and the water supply was disrupted. Federal response, while eventually mobilized, faced significant delays and resource gaps compared to responses to Florida and Texas in the same hurricane season. The Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp criticized the federal response as inadequate. The contrast between response speeds for voting-status U.S. territories (Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) versus states became a subject of policy debate and congressional hearings.