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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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Katrina unearths coffins from Slidell cemeteries |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 09 October 2005 |
By Betsy V. Swenson
Pontchartrain Newspapers
SLIDELL - As Hurricane Katrina swept water through homes and businesses in the Slidell area, her storm surge also disturbed the quietest of resting places - the city's cemeteries.
Last week, members of the U.S. Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team collected seven unearthed coffins from the Slidell area, specifically from cemeteries located off Military Road and U.S. Highway 190.The St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office directed the DMORT to the coffins' locations.
Mark Lombard, chief investigator for the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office, said his agency was alerted to the problem of disturbed graves after receiving phone calls from concerned Slidell residents.
"We identified the problem (soon after the storm)," said Lombard. "The storm made the coffins move anywhere from a couple feet to a couple hundred yards."
Three dislodged coffins were identified at Porter Cemetery off Indian Village Road, one at McKean Cemetery off Apple Pie Ridge and U.S. Highway 90, one at Oak Grove Cemetery on Military Road and one at Jackson-Square-Harrison Cemetery, next door to Oak Grove.
Lombard reported two incidents of dislodged coffins - one near Jackson-Square-Harrison Cemetery and the other at Brookter Cemetery on McManus Road - exhibiting visible human remains.
"One had floated across Military Road from Jackson-Square-Harrison and into a gentleman's yard," said Lombard.
In the two incidents where human remains were exposed, the coroner's office took immediate action and promptly removed the coffins from their locations. Investigators were unable to remove the other seven dislodged coffins right away, but only after determining the caskets were securely closed and no remains were visible.
"We didn't have the resources to remove (the coffins), so our decision was to go out and assess the situation, mark it with a GPS and determine no human remains were in direct view of the public," said Lombard. "After that, we left them in place. Most of them were in close proximity to the cemetery, and the fear was that if the coffins were taken from the area it would be difficult to get them identified. Some of these cemeteries date back to the 1800s, and we'd never get them ID'ed."
Lack of storage facilities was another deciding factor in leaving the dislodged coffins in place, he said.
"We didn't have the resources to store the whole coffins," said Lombard. "When we bring in bodies we put them on body trays, but with a whole coffin you've got to have a vehicle big enough and a storage place big enough."
Lombard emphasized that the coroner's office made sure no human remains were exposed in the disrupted caskets left behind, sometimes going out to check on the dislodged coffins four or five times to make sure nothing had changed.
After removing the dislodged coffins, DMORT transferred them to the temporary morgue in St. Gabriel, for Hurricane Katrina victims.
"Anybody who dies as a result of this disaster goes to St. Gabriel," said Lombard, "and any human remains that are recovered are sent to St. Gabriel."
At the morgue, the bodies will await identification before being returned to their resting places.
Not only were coffins dislodged from their underground graves, but the storm surge disturbed entire above-ground tombs, said Lombard.
The coroner's office received the necessary equipment to move the tombs back to their home cemeteries, and work to move the tombs began last week.
"We'll put the tombs into the cemeteries, but it will be up to the cemetery owners to put the tombs back where they belong," said Lombard.
Lombard urges any residents who observe disrupted graves to contact the coroner's office immediately.
"If you do see something, make sure you call it in so that we can assess the situation," Lombard said.
Since the storm, every dislodged coffin case handled by the coroner's office has been reported by observant parish residents, said Lombard.
"One gentlemen in particular called us because he recognized his mother's casket," he said.
To report a disturbed grave, call the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office at 781-1150.
http://www.slidellsentry.com/articles/2005/10/05/news/news13.txt |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned; By strangers honored, and by strangers mourned.” Alexander Pope 1688-1744
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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