San Juan [Puerto Rico], August 29 (NT): In the view of new researches concerning the death tolls in Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rican government has hiked it to 2975. Hurricane Maria affected Dominica and Puerto Rico in September 2017.

According to the reports of CNN the number is 46 times higher than the previous figure issued by the government in December 2017. Earlier the authorities claimed 67 people dead after the deadly storm.

Governor Ricardo Rossello asserted media that the death toll is only a rough calculation and not a concrete. "This number can change, it could be less, it could be more, as time passes."

He further exposed that it could take a number of months or years to come up with a real list of storm-related deaths.

Hurricane Maria is considered to as the worst hurricane in 90 years.

 Here Why the change in numbers by Government?

The authorities have faced almost a year of condemnation for underreporting the accurate toll of Maria which is the most powerful storm to hit the region in nearly 90 years. So far the official figure was 64 - even though the island had previously acknowledged the death toll was almost certainly much higher. In the wake of the calamity, some experts estimated over 4,600 deaths.

The government's initial number had claimed by counting those crushed by breaking up structures, drowned and smacked by flying debris.