Morgue for Katrina shuts down

[sabra]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/15/news/orleans.php

Morgue for Katrina shuts down

CARVILLE, Louisiana After using it for only 10 weeks, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has shut down a $17 million state-of-the-art morgue built to handle victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to agency officials.

The morgue, which can decontaminate and examine 150 bodies a day and has living space for nearly 500 workers, is closing because the number of bodies coming in has dwindled to about one a week, said Chuck Smith, a FEMA official.

Smith said Tuesday the morgue had been developed when officials believed there would be 5,000 deaths. Instead, there have been about 1,300 in Louisiana so far and it was apparent within a few weeks of the hurricane that the number of deaths would be 1,000 to 2,000.

"It is the Taj Mahal of forensic science; it is a beautiful place," said Frank Minyard, the New Orleans coroner. "But by the time we moved there we were finished with all the autopsies."

[BOSSHOG]

1. Many bodies were washed into the Gulf of Mexico

but I believe their is no doubt that more bodies will be found in the lower ninth ward when houses are moved or rebuilt or destroyed.

[TomInTib]

2. I don't believe they will be candidates for full autopsies.

With the elements present over the last 5-6 months (heat, rain, animals, and demolition), I doubt they will find many intact skeletons. Forget forensic evidence.

ID will probably be based on location.

Man, that morgue was a waste of money!

[Frustratedlady]

3. Incredible!

That's OK. We have all kinds of money to waste on short-term fixes. Let's see...trailers in Hope, Ark., Carnival Lines' ships sucking in the money, but few takers for a free room/eats, buses sitting around waiting for people to leave NO....we need to make a list of these instances. There are so many, we will forget most of them in time.

[tanyev]

4. OK, then. Mission Accomplished. Problem over.

:grr:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

5. Yep, I am suprised ** did not show up there with

banners flying

[zann725]

6. Wasn't the guy who got the buckshot in the fact in charge of Mrogue Svcs?

I thought I heard he was. And had been in prior "disasters" with prior Bush admins. and projects.

So all that money spent on the fancy morgue they NEVER planned to fully-use (for each "missing person" will show up on some FUTURE Repug voter rosters. Given the numbers missing in this one "disaster" alone, that could "turn" any election Regug quite possibly.

The irony is also they NEVER intended to fully-use the morgue; but spent the millions HERE to create the impression they cared about finding and identifying the victims. Insteead, the millions useslessly spent here, could have gone to the "living" survivors who are now homeless, relocated to foreign states, unknown cities, and homeless (now kicked out of their hotels). And since they were (coincidentally) relocated to primarily "white" areas, being homeless now will no longer hold a "sympathetic" environ for them. One wonders about the detainment centers KB&E jjust got a "contract" for?