A Grim Task Done Badly

[preciousdove]

7:18 PM PDT, September 10, 2005
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-death11sep11,0,73912.story?coll=la-home-headlines

...The supervisor of one recovery team working in New Orleans said that FEMA's body collection efforts had been hampered by breakdowns in leadership and planning. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the first DMORT team to arrive in Louisiana took days to get organized in Baton Rouge before finally deploying to New Orleans, and didn't have clear instructions when they arrived.

Even as the flood waters receded, he said, some crew members were not being used in searches. "They were sitting there with no plan, no guidance from above," he said.

FEMA officials disputed such criticism.

"We're doing all we can do to facilitate the recovery of the deceased from the city," said Ricardo Zuniga, a FEMA spokesman.

Zuniga said one DMORT team and other recovery workers had been working round-the clock shifts for the better part of a week recovering bodies, and that a second team -- comprised of emergency and medical workers from Ohio -- was expected to arrive in the city in the coming days....