In the 6 months after Hurricane Maria, the number of people who died as a result of the hurricane was much higher than was initially estimated from death certificates. The interruption of health services and displacement led to the exacerbation of pre-existing chronic diseases. The objectives of this study were (1) to estimate excess deaths in Puerto Rico in the 6 months after María, (2) to identify the geographical areas that experienced a higher risk of mortality from chronic diseases after María, and (3) to identify the characteristics of community-level vulnerability associated with the fact that some communities had a higher risk of increased mortality from chronic diseases after María. Methods: Death records were obtained from the Demographic Registry of the Puerto Rico Department of Health. Mortality risks per 100,000 inhabitants were calculated for categories of chronic diseases and all-cause mortality during the 6 months following María and the same months of the previous year. A geospatial analysis using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic was used to determine if the clusters of mortality due to risk of death 6 months after Hurricane Maria, by census tracts, were statistically significant. Multinomial logistic regression was used to model the association between social vulnerability at the level of the census tract and classification as a higher or sustained risk of mortality in the 6 months following Hurricane Maria, compared to the mortality risk of the previous year. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated to measure associations between social vulnerability and mortality risk.Results: In the 6 months after María, there were increases in the risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's, diabetes, sepsis, chronic respiratory diseases, hypertension and all-cause mortality. When examining the community characteristics associated with vulnerability to disasters, neighborhoods with a higher proportion of people over 65, a higher proportion of housing in multifamily structures and a higher proportion of households without vehicles, compared to other neighborhoods in Puerto Rico, were more likely to maintain a high risk of mortality before and after María or to have an increased risk of being a hotbed of mortality from chronic diseases after María.