Katrina Death Toll May Never Be Known
Michelle Roberts
Associated Press
Houston Chronicle
_____________
New Orleans, Louisiana (US):
Nearly six months after Hurricane Katrina, more than 1,300 bodies have been found, but the real death toll is clearly higher.
How much higher, no one can say with any certainty.Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for, and some of them _ again, no one is sure how many _ were probably washed into the Gulf of Mexico, drowned when their fishing boats sank, swept into Lake Pontchartrain or alligator-infested swamps, or buried under crushed homes, said Dr. Louis Cataldie, Louisiana medical examiner.
New Orleans Coroner Frank Minyard said a final sweep of homes in the devastated Ninth Ward will be done this month with help from federal officials. After that, he said, any more bodies found will probably be discovered in out-of-the-way places by hunters or fishermen.The remains of 1,079 people have been recovered in Louisiana; an additional 231 were found in Mississippi.
But Louisiana officials have information on roughly 300 people whose loved ones are desperately searching for them, months after the Aug. 29 storm struck the Gulf Coast and scattered the region's residents.About 90 bodies remain unidentified at the morgue. In some cases, they will be identified and removed from the list of the 300 or so missing, but that could still leave hundreds unaccounted for, Cataldie said.
The list of those reported missing to the Find Family National Call Center, run by state and federal officials in Baton Rouge, has about 2,300 people on it. Of the 2,300 on the list, most are from New Orleans, and nearly three-quarters are black.
feb 12, 2006
Michelle Roberts
Associated Press
Houston Chronicle
_____________
New Orleans, Louisiana (US):
Nearly six months after Hurricane Katrina, more than 1,300 bodies have been found, but the real death toll is clearly higher.
How much higher, no one can say with any certainty.Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for, and some of them _ again, no one is sure how many _ were probably washed into the Gulf of Mexico, drowned when their fishing boats sank, swept into Lake Pontchartrain or alligator-infested swamps, or buried under crushed homes, said Dr. Louis Cataldie, Louisiana medical examiner.
New Orleans Coroner Frank Minyard said a final sweep of homes in the devastated Ninth Ward will be done this month with help from federal officials. After that, he said, any more bodies found will probably be discovered in out-of-the-way places by hunters or fishermen.The remains of 1,079 people have been recovered in Louisiana; an additional 231 were found in Mississippi.
But Louisiana officials have information on roughly 300 people whose loved ones are desperately searching for them, months after the Aug. 29 storm struck the Gulf Coast and scattered the region's residents.About 90 bodies remain unidentified at the morgue. In some cases, they will be identified and removed from the list of the 300 or so missing, but that could still leave hundreds unaccounted for, Cataldie said.
The list of those reported missing to the Find Family National Call Center, run by state and federal officials in Baton Rouge, has about 2,300 people on it. Of the 2,300 on the list, most are from New Orleans, and nearly three-quarters are black.
feb 12, 2006
