Puerto Rico received less hurricane aid compared with Texas and Florida, study says

Using public data, BMJ created a timeline of staff and funding coming directly from FEMA to those affected by the hurricanes. The study focused on measures of federal spending, distributed federal resources, and direct and indirect storm-mortality tolls. The study says its results show the federal response was faster and “more generous” in terms of funding and staffing for Hurricane Irma in Florida and Harvey in Texas than for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a self-governing US territory whose citizens are Americans.

Paying For Funerals Impossible For Many Low Income Families

All three hurricanes made landfall as Category 4 storms, and the study indicates its results would make sense if the damage for Maria was less expensive or less altering than those of the other storms. According to CNN reporting, the damage estimate for Maria is $90 billion, $125 billion for Harvey and $50 billion for Irma.

The combination of direct and indirect storm fatalities also plays a role in understanding the amount of damage inflicted upon the areas, the study says. Hurricane Irma led to 92 deaths, Hurricane Harvey was blamed for 103 deaths and Maria led to 3,040 deaths, according to numbers compiled by BMJ Global Health.

Source: Puerto Rico received less hurricane aid compared with Texas and Florida, study says