Men walk damaged trees after the passage of Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on September 20, 2017.
Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on, cutting power on most of the US territory as terrified residents hunkered down in the face of the island's worst storm in living memory. After leaving a deadly trail of destruction on a string of smaller Caribbean islands, Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico's southeast coast around daybreak, packing winds of around 150mph (240kph).
/ AFP PHOTO / HECTOR RETAMALHECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images ORG XMIT: Aftermath
The death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria has more than doubled to 34, a spokesman for Governor Ricardo Rosello said on Tuesday.
The worst hurricane to hit the U.S. territory in more than 90 years directly killed 19 people, said Pedro Cerame, the governor’s director of communications in Washington.
Just hours earlier when President Donald Trump visited the island to survey the damage the official death toll remained as it has for days at 16 dead.
