Makeshift morgue works to identify Katrina's dead

ST. GABRIEL, Louisiana (Reuters) - In a long, low, nondescript warehouse in a Louisiana town that used to be a leper colony, Hurricane Katrina's victims will be identified and returned to their families.

A convoy of refrigerated trucks, seven in all, pulled up alongside the makeshift morgue early on Monday. The bodies will be stored inside.

In the warehouse, the location of which authorities are trying to keep quiet to lend some dignity to the grim task of collecting and processing perhaps thousands of corpses, concrete floors are covered with plastic sheets to contain fluids that could pose a biohazard threat.

Rows of stainless steel gurneys await the first bodies. Processing is expected to start within 24 hours and the U.S. Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) has drawn up a plan to handle in excess of 5,000 corpses


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coroner. The other day, all I heard was that the coroner's office was overwhelmed by all the dead. The repots said something about many more were dead than the numbers indicate, but they aren't being counted until the coroner completes his work.

Ummm wake up folks. The dead are considered bio-hazards. What does this mean for those that lived through this? I'd be mightly worried.

of them might have had AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases. Not to mention what laying in putrid water for days does.

they have a web page, interesting. Work under DHS.

DMORT Mass Fatality Assistance
Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team. A team of forensic specialists who respond to mass fatality events for the National Disaster Medical System.
www.dmort.org