FEMA Assisting Louisiana Parishes with Disinterred Remains
Release Date: December 19, 2005
Release Number: 1603-239
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working with Louisiana parishes to help identify and re-inter caskets disinterred by Hurricane's Katrina and Rita. Thus far, five Louisiana parishes have requested assistance from FEMA.
FEMA's Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) has set up a Victim Identification Center (VIC) in Carville, La. There, DMORT specialists are working to identify disinterred remains local parish coroners have been unable to identify. To date, the VIC has received more than 280 sets of disinterred remains and re-casketed more than 80. DMORT estimates approximately 1,300 remains were disinterred as a result of both hurricanes, approximately 800 from Hurricane Rita and 500 from Katrina.
Once remains are recovered, they are sent to the parish coroner for identification. If the parish coroner cannot make an identification, the coroner can choose to send the remains to the VIC, where DMORT specialists use a variety of forensic techniques, but not DNA, in an effort to identify the remains. Once an identification is made, the remains are re-casketed in a casket similar to that used by the armed forces and then returned to the parishes.
An estimated 340 caskets and vaults have been disinterred in Cameron, the most severely impacted parish by Hurricane Rita. DMORT has assisted in the recovery of nearly 275 of these, and expects to receive approximately 200 at the Carville site for identification. In Vermilion Parish, 161 vaults and caskets were displaced and DMORT assisted in recovery of all of these. Approximately 70 will be sent Carville for identification. Though St. Mary parish is not sending any remains to the Carville site, DMORT assisted with identification in one cemetery.
Parishes impacted by Hurricane Katrina and requesting FEMA assistance with disinterred remains include St. Tammany and St. Bernard. Nearly 200 caskets and vaults were displaced in St. Bernard Parish, and more than 100 have been received at the Carville site for identification. DMORT assisted St. Bernard Parish officials with the recovery of all disinterred remains. In St. Tammany, there were 33 vaults or caskets displaced, and eight of those have been sent to Carville for identification.
Individuals who have family members missing and disinterred should call the Find Family National Call Center at 1-866-326-9393 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week. This hotline will connect individuals with specialists who will gather information about the missing and use it in an effort to identify and locate missing individuals. All calls to the FFNCC are confidential.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 20-Dec-2005 08:36:32