Today is the 13th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The monster storm that Louisiana and Mississippi is responsible for taking the lives of more than 1,800 people.
But that disaster is dwarfed by Hurricane Maria.
A new study from researchers at George Washington University finds Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico, surpassed those numbers. Researchers found an estimated 2,975 people died in the six months after the hurricane.
Jeannie Caderin, founder of Somos Puerto Rico Tampa, has helped many Hurricane Maria evacuees who came to the Tampa Bay area. It’s been 11 months since the hurricane, and Calderin is still getting donations from people who want to help.
“Look at all these school supplies, they help me so much with the families. I have notebooks, pencils paper, markers and more,” she said.
Calderin’s organization found permanent homes for hundreds of displaced families. She has helped people with everything from finding jobs, to healthcare providers.
“I helped one man who came here from Puerto Rico with cancer. His families always says to me, 'If we would have stayed in Puerto Rico, he would not have made it.' Now he’s getting treatment at Moffit Cancer Center.”
It’s why Calderin says she’s not surprised at the findings of a new report finding Maria's death toll is much higher than the original estimate of 64.
“I think it’s really sad that it had to take a university to come to Puerto Rico and make a study in order for us to know the real numbers. To be honest, I’m sure there’s more.”
As the island was left without power, the deaths came in the weeks and months after the hurricane struck.
“I heard of people who were burying bodies in their backyard. It doesn’t make sense to me why the government would hide how many people died. It’s not something that was done on purpose,” Calderin said.
While there is much debate over who to blame, Calderin will continue to help people here in Tampa Bay. They all have loved ones on the island, which is why Calderin hopes there won’t be a next time.
“What I hope happens from now on, is for Puerto Rico to fix what needs to be fixed the proper way. Let’s make sure that if, God forbid, this happens again, the island is ready.”
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