2,000 graves damaged in wake of back-to-back hurricanes

Over the last few months, the Louisiana coast has endured catastrophic damage from back-to-back hurricanes, first Laura and then more recently Delta. A path of widespread devastation was left in communities across the state, including Cameron Parish, which sustained a direct hit from both hurricanes. Remarkably, nobody was killed in Cameron Parish, but dozens of deceased family members are now missing.

The powerful storm surge associated with Laura and Delta was strong enough to cause the water to move massive granite and marble slabs in cemeteries in the hard-hit state. Vaults that held caskets in place ended up popping up "like corks," according to AccuWeather National Reporter Jonathan Petramala, who recently visited Cameron Parish and reported on the grim problem.

Scott Trahan knows of at least two of his family members missing from their resting places. "Now they found Uncle DD, but I don’t think they found Aunt Rose's casket yet," he told Petramala.

The Louisiana Cemetery Task Force has asked for family members to help report and identify missing remains and damaged gravestones.

"These vaults are huge air pockets, ultimately, and that air just wants out," said Ryan Seidemann of the Louisiana Cemetery Task Force, explaining to Petramala how water can easily displace remains.

Since Hurricane Laura devastated the coast in late August after making landfall as a Category 4 storm, the Louisiana Cemetery Task Force has been working hard to identify the damage to graves and missing remains. Delta added to the destruction when it crashed onshore as a Category 2 storm on Oct. 9. Once damage or remains are identified, the task force is able to apply for money from FEMA to help cover the costs of grave repairs and reburial.

To date, more than 2,000 graves around Louisiana have been identified as suffering some degree of damage after the storms. The extent of the damage ranges from just a simple headstone resetting, to tasks that will cost a lot more time and money.

Seidemann, who has been dealing with cemetery disaster response in the area for more than 10 years, said this is the largest such event he's ever dealt with.

Finding the remains of a body is just the beginning of what can be an arduous task that involves trying to identify who the remains belong to are and where those deceased people were buried, he said. The task becomes even more difficult when burial records aren't readily and DNA data from the remains is no longer viable.

With all of those hurdles, the task force has recovered the remains of about only 50 bodies. At least 170 caskets are believed to be displaced, according to Trahan.

Caskets "can travel for miles so we could end up looking for a casket from one cemetery, and it could end up being 5 miles north of here," Christine Halling of the Louisiana Cemetery Task Force told Petramala.

The task force is calling on families to provide critical information to help in the identification process.

"Those positive IDs really depend on the family and having contact information or having a map and having some extra details about what casket they were buried in," said Halling.

The task force warns that the process will take years to complete, but generations are relying on their work so family members can be laid to rest again.

Reporting by Jonathan Petramala.

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