Posted from a news artical.

Thirty three bodies, including blues legend Gatemouth Brown, remain above ground at the Hollywood Cemetery in downtown Orange (Texas), six weeks after Hurricane Ike washed them out of their vaults. FEMA says they've done what they're required to do, the non-profit organization that runs the cemetery says they don't have any money, and the city and county says it's not their responsibility. So what happens now?

It's not necessarily their job but Justice of the Peace Joe Parkhurst and Sparrow Funeral Home Director Wayne Sparrow have led the charge of finding a solution to the problem. "The cemetery doesn't make any money," said Sparrow. "People pay $125 to be buried there and that money covers putting the casket in the ground." Joe Burke, who passed away this past year, gave the organization $100,000 but there are stipulations that say they can only use the interest made off of the money to keep the cemetery clean. The land was originally given to a church to provide a burial ground for poor black families.

After Ike stormed through the area on Sept. 13, caskets either floated out of their vaults or the entire vault came out of the ground. Some were found several streets away. None of them opened so all of the bodies remained in their respective caskets. A D-MORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team) group got help from the Sparrow family with the identification of several of the caskets while others were taken to a lab in Louisiana. Those that were identified using x-rays and dental records, were also put in new caskets courtesy of FEMA. They were brought back to Orange in 18-wheelers and join those that have not been able to be identified in three trucks that are still blocking Curtis Ave. FEMA is still paying for the three drivers of those trucks to stay and sleep in them yet they feel bringing the bodies back to the cemetery is the end of their financial responsibility.

Orange Mayor Brown Claybar says legally the city cannot use tax dollars on private property. The city also turned down Sparrow's request to store the caskets in the old downtown fire station so Curtis Ave. could be reopened. Parkhurst says the cemetery is a historical landmark and that the Texas Historical Commission hasn't said yet whether they have funds to help with the reburial. State Representative Joe Deshotel is also on his contact list.

Sparrow estimates it could take $30,000 to put the cemetery back to what it was before Sept. 13. He also said it's not as easy as taking a backhoe and digging holes. "Many of these vaults are old and delicate and many of the locations in the cemetery are hard to get to and will require a boom truck or a larger crane. So it will take someone who has experience."

Five of the bodies were reinterred Monday after gravediggers performing a funeral spent time putting caskets or vaults back in place that were close or still halfway in their original locations.

Besides the money needed, the other problem is identifying the other bodies. Finding family with poorly kept records and then asking them about their family members and possible identifying marks will be a large task. Another question not answered is how long FEMA will pay to keep the trucks and drivers in Orange? Until then 33 await their return to their final resting place.

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Threads combined. -Joe Offer-