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November 23, 2005

Yikes

The truely awful part is trying to surmise where all these bodies are now....

USA Today:

6,644 are still missing after Katrina; toll may rise

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

The whereabouts of 6,644 people reported missing after Hurricane Katrina have not been determined, raising the prospect that the death toll could be higher than the 1,306 recorded so far in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to two groups working with the federal government to account for victims.

Most of those who remain listed as unaccounted-for 12 weeks after the storm probably are alive and well, says Kym Pasqualini, chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing Adults. She says they are listed as missing because government record-keeping efforts haven't caught up with them in their new locations.

However, Pasqualini says those counting the victims are particularly concerned about an estimated 1,300 unaccounted-for people who lived in areas that were heavily damaged by Katrina, or who were disabled at the time the storm hit. The fact that authorities haven't been able to determine what happened to them suggests that the death toll from Katrina could climb significantly.

Another 1300 or more possibly dead bodies out there somewhere?

I have a tough time believing that if this disaster had happened in Manhattan (or here for that matter), they'd have called off the search for the dead with that many unaccounted souls.

The shameful manner in which this entire Katrina disaster has been handled should cause government officials at all levels to lose their jobs. It's absolutely unacceptable.

Posted by Carla at November 23, 2005 11:26 AM