Higher-than-expected death toll seen in clustered New Orleans corpses

[markus]

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/">Higher-than-expected death toll seen in clustered New Orleans corpses

By Michael Perlstein
Staff writer

Tentative optimism that New Orleans’ death toll from Katrina might be far lower than first projected has given way to somber reality over the past 36 hours as search and rescue squad turn up bodies by the dozen in the hardest hit areas of the city.

By mid-afternoon Friday, the black triangles used to designate human remains were multiplying on an emergency command center map. Federal Emergency Management Agency rescue squad liaison Charles Hood said a spike in discoveries Friday has started to take an emotional toll on rescue workers.

...

“Parts of the city have become a target-rich environment for human remains,” Hood said. “We’re just now getting into the areas that experienced the most rapid inundation.”

Large chunks of the city, including parts of Gentilly, the Desire-Florida area and Upper 9th Ward, have revealed tell-tale signs that the two breaches of the London Avenue Canal led to a rapid rush of floodwater that caught scores of residents off-guard. The surprise factor was only worsened in that the fast-rising water, more than 12 feet in spots, came well after the storm had passed.

Why, why, why is this not on the homepage of the Times-Picayune's NOLA.Com?

For related information, see my post on "What Holocaust" on wetbankguide.blogspot.com. If they are under reporting the dead by as much as 90%, Nagin may not have been that far off.

The toll of the "officially dead" is 579.

[blitzen]

1. link doesn't work....goes to microsoft.com n/t

[salvorhardin]

2. You need to edit your post

and take out the http:// part in the link. DU doesn't want
that part.

[Gman]

3. "target rich"?

strange choice of words.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. Target rich, a Rumsfeldian euphemism for we can kill alot of people

there rather than somewhere else.

[Miss Chybil]

14. Yes, I guess they're planning on bombing the dead people.

These bureaucratic yahoos just like using their "fancy" new words. (It's gubmint talk, you know. Makes 'em feel special.) I wonder how many "target rich" areas FEMA, itself, created with its sanctimonious bullshit.

[daleo]

20. They think it sounds better than victim rich

Although most victims would, in fact, be poor.

[teach1st]

4. Link

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_16.html#080431

[Rose Siding]

6. Thanks. They're just getting to the parts that had the worst flooding...

snip>
“Parts of the city have become a target-rich environment for human remains,” Hood said. “We’re just now getting into the areas that experienced the most rapid inundation.”

Large chunks of the city, including parts of Gentilly, the Desire-Florida area and Upper 9th Ward, have revealed tell-tale signs that the two breaches of the London Avenue Canal led to a rapid rush of floodwater that caught scores of residents off-guard. The surprise factor was only worsened in that the fast-rising water, more than 12 feet in spots, came well after the storm had passed.

“Those are areas where the people were probably asleep when the water rushed in,” Hood said.

:(

[SoCalDem]

28. and to think that in a coastal region, they complained

that "there were areas that they COULDN'T GET TO because of the high water".. This statement was repeated for DAYS......by the same people who TURNED AWAY BOATS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE FLOODING.

I have a terrible feeling that lots of those people died in their attics waiting for help that never came...

[cry baby]

5. I am shocked to hear about this, I was so hoping there wouldn't

be so many. Markus, do you think there will be an acurate count?

[pretzel4gore]

9. how many missing?

sheeze the news somehow fills the air with tender nothings, 24/7

[cry baby]

12. I heard on CNN, I think, that there were still over 2000 children

missing. Hopefully, they are at shelters or somewhere else, not the unthinkable.

I haven't heard how many have been reported missing.

[fooj]

31. Yes. Over 2000 children and 2000 US Postal Workers!

Peace.

[Ian David]

30. Accurate count? Doubt it. They hired firm that desecrates & hides corpses

Company hired to recover Louisiana bodies has ties to S. Florida lawsuits

By Neil Santaniello
Staff Writer
Posted September 16 2005

The company hired to recover Louisiana bodies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is owned by the same corporate parent sued for mishandling bodies and desecrating graves in South Florida cemeteries.

Company hired to recover Louisiana bodies has ties to S. Florida lawsuits

By Neil Santaniello
Staff Writer
Posted September 16 2005

The company hired to recover Louisiana bodies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is owned by the same corporate parent sued for mishandling bodies and desecrating graves in South Florida cemeteries.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said it is contracting with Kenyon International, a subsidiary of Service Corporation International, to recover deceased storm victims in that state through Nov. 15.

In a statement, Dr. Fred Cerise, secretary of the department, expressed confidence Kenyon, a Texas-based global emergency response and disaster management company, would run a body recovery process with "respect and dignity."

Parent SCI was sued after two Menorah Gardens cemeteries -- in Palm Beach Gardens and west of Fort Lauderdale -- were accused of treating buried customers much to the contrary. The problem first surfaced in 2001 with allegations that cemetery employees buried people in the wrong locations, broke open vaults to squeeze in other remains and tossed bones into the woods. The case sparked a state investigation.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pkenyon16sep16,0,2612636.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

[Hissyspit]

8. Nominated - Even 1000 dead (double current) seems strangely low.

...for this disaster, to me.

[Kagemusha]

10. They just wanted the count low for Bush's speeches.

Now it can get much higher and be safer for the President's political butt.

[wildflower]

11. I am so sad to see this. Nominated. Link is at:

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_16.html#080431

wildflower

[rodeodance]

13. sad days in the gulf.

[Imagevision]

15. Fema said they haven't begun a block by block search yesterday but

planned to soon? (soon?) that sounds like FEMA...!

[jobycom]

16. I hope this is more false rumor, but it has the look of credibility

Michael Perlstein is a Times Picayune writer, according to Google.

Still, there was a well-detailed story that claimed there were hundreds of bodies in Slidell floating in the harbor, and there was another that there were hundreds of bodies in Hancock County, Mississippi, in one region where there were dozens of bodies jammed in each tree. Both seemed reliable and somewhat official, but both were wrong.

Let's hope this is wrong, too, though it seems very plausible. There are still thousands in shelters who have been unable to find loved ones. Many of those loved ones are probably in other shelters in other towns trying to find them, too, but it still seems like a lot of missing people. CNN said something about 1200 children who were in state care because their parents hadn't been found yet.

[mopinko]

17. is he hitler yet?

really, 6 million pushed into poverty, how many dead in iraq, afganistan, abu graib, NOLA. he wasn't hilter because there were not 6 million. is he hitler yet?

[leftchick]

35. he is hitler all right

has been for years....

[mopinko]

36. i certainly have thought so.

i love that sign. i have been meaning to steal it for a button, but have not gotten around to it.
why is the left always right, is what i want to know. most of us knew when raygun got in what was what. katrina is chickens come home to roost, without a doubt. raygun hatched those eggs.

[Nictuku]

18. Bad Link?

Or has the article 'disappeared' ??

[MADem]

19. I just read it, the original link had one too many http's in it

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_16.html#080431

[markus]

21. Sorry for the bad link

I start to get flaky after a couple of hours of reading the news from New Orleans, especially after I get one to one like this.

I keep looking for the "silver linning" stories for my blog.

And I just cant' seem to find them.

[tanyev]

22. Higher than who expected?

The Bushco disinfo fairies? Nagin and many others initially did predict thousands of deaths.

[Changenow]

23. Imagine what they'd find if they searched inside

the houses and attics rather than just looking in windows. Or if they used cadaver dogs.

If a half-assed search is still turning up bodies by the dozen it is about time that the search be declared over and the evidence destroyed.

[rocktivity]

24. The toll of the "officially dead" will not exceed 3000

Bush's policies musn't kill more Americans than Bin Laden's.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Spazito]

27. Exactly!

That is the intent behind not wanting the media there; hiring a corporation infamous for hiding bodies, etc.

There WILL NOT be a death toll in NO of more than the number of those who died on 9/11 regardless of the true facts, imo.

[GOPAgainstGW]

25. Total Katrina Death AND Missing Will Be High

,and in the end will not be covered up by BushCo. The death toll in situations like this is always under-reported in the short-term for several valid reasons.

[zann725]

26. Add a 'comma' after that "7"...and add TWO zero's after the "9"...

and I think the death toll will begin approaching "reality." And I'm only estimating NO. In a city of 500,000, with 5-7 days without water and food, and polluted water...and medical aid essentially cut-off by FEMA for over a week...

To say there are ONLY 500 dead...please!

[markus]

34. Zann, see my blog post "What Holocaust"

on wetbankguide.blogspot.com.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee has already stated that only 10% of the initial bodies found in Jefferson Parish were being attributed to Katrina.

The rest, I presume, died of an overdose of the milk of human kindness, provided by FEMA.

[Zeebo]

29. Kick n/t

[leftofthedial]

32. no. everything is fine. aid is flooding in. a storm of federal support

has descended on the Gulf Coast. Our Clueless, er, Fearless Leader George is in charge now and all is well.

:sarcasm:

In a related story, 750 bodies were found today, increasing the official death toll to 582.

[JoFerret]

33. “Parts of the city have become a target-rich environment for human remains

“Parts of the city have become a target-rich environment for human remains

Disgusting.