How did the New Orleans cemeteries fare through Hurricane Katrina?
Most New Orleans cemeteries work this way: bodies are placed in a family tomb, which is a big above-water stone structure. After a long time, the bones and dust are moved somewhat to make room for the next body. I very much doubt that actual not-completely-decomposed bodies are getting out of the cemeteries very much. On the other hand, the scene on streets with people who have died in the last week is very gruesome indeed.
I think the problem is going to be worse outside New Orleans. I’ve heard eyewitnesses speaking of caskets coming out of the ground in standard cemeteries. The New Orleans tombs are, I’m sure, badly damaged, and there may have been some damage bad enough to cause old remains to float around. But I believe the flooded cemeteries where people were still being buried underground will be quite a bit worse in that regard. By the way — I’ve heard (no time to research it right now) that the reason the NoLa tombs became local custom is that there was a horrendous storm in the late 1700s in which all the formerly buried bodies did come up and float around in a horrific mess.
