I thought they ended up doing that because the bodies were piling up uncounted and the governor admitted that that the civilian infrastructure required to keep

I thought they ended up doing that because the bodies were piling up uncounted and the governor admitted that that the civilian infrastructure required to keep track of the dead had itself failed and so asked for outside help from academics on the mainland. They didn't go with the highest academic figure either. If they were actually trying for high figures, as you suggest, why not go with the Harvard study placing it at around 4600 dead?