We've seen scattered reports from watchdogs and aid groups over the past year that say Hurricane Maria killed far more Puerto Ricans than the official death toll would have you believe, but the official toll has now been massively increased.
In paperwork submitted to Congress, officials have increased the toll from 64 to over 1,400.
The government, relying on updated statistics it first reported in June, said there were 1,427 more deaths from September to December 2017 than the average for the same time period over the previous four years.
In a report to Congress detailing a $139 billion reconstruction plan, the territory's government said that the additional deaths resulted from the effects of a storm that led to a "cascading failures" in infrastructure across the island of 3.3 million people.
To put this into perspective, Hurricane Karina contributed to over 1,800 deaths in 2005 so while Hurricane Maria was not quite as deadly, it was in the same ballpark. We also don't know if these new numbers are final.
The two storms have other human similarities, of course.
The victims of both storms were predominately minority Americans and, in both cases, relief officials were praised by the White House for doing an absolutely terrible job. Or a "heck'uva job."
Trump has used the initial death toll of just 64 to claim that his regime's response was outstanding, but I don't expect he'll acknowledge the new number. If White House does acknowledge the new number, I assume they'll blame local officials or perhaps even the Obama administration. Anyone but themselves.
Recent reports have made it clear that Trump regime officials made critical errors just days before Hurricane Maria made landfall.