Louisiana
How Louisiana Is Coping With Flooding In Cemeteries
This article is part of The State of Science, a series featuring science stories from public radio stations across the United States. This story, by Eva Tesfaye, was published in collaboration with WWNO.
Emily Dalfrey lives across the street from Niblett’s Bluff Cemetery, where generations of her family are buried, in Vinton, Louisiana.
In 2016, a period of prolonged rainfall caused flooding so severe that people could drive boats over the cemetery. The water put so much pressure on the graves that some of the vaults, which are located near the surface, popped open. Some of Dalfrey’s own family members’ caskets were carried away and deposited in her yard.
Unsure how to restore the cemetery, the community contracted Gulf Coast Forensic Solutions, a company that helps people locate and rebury loved ones after natural disasters damage cemeteries.
“We truly would have not gotten it done if we would not have had that guidance and that help,” Dalfrey says of Gulf Coast’s assistance. “Because when you bury your family, you think they’re there forever.”
Louisiana has dealt with flooded cemeteries and caskets washing away for decades, but the problem is getting worse—and more widespread. As climate change increases the likelihood of weather-related disasters, many other states are now grappling with damaged cemeteries. And they’re looking to Louisiana for help.
Hurricanes, Flooding, And Mudslides
Charlie Hunter, the CEO of Gulf Coast Forensic Solutions, started in this line of work during his time at the Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office, where he worked in death investigation. Normally, such a job involves investigating homicides and car accidents, but Hunter found himself spending a lot of time doing grave site recovery after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
He started his company in 2020, repairing over 75 cemeteries across Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes in southwest Louisiana after Hurricanes Laura and Delta. He eventually left his job at the coroner’s office and expanded the company in 2023.
“It’s being able to give families a little bit of peace at the end of the day,” he says, “and so I think that’s what’s really important. It’s a never-ending job.”
Working in a state that’s been so frequently pummeled by hurricanes has made him something of an expert in his field.
“Now that cemetery damage and restoration is such a big deal, people reach out to us from all across the country, whether it’s from hurricanes, flooding events, mudslides,” he says.
Hunter says he’s helped people in Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and even California. One of them was Eva Kenner from Port Charlotte, Florida. She manages Charlotte Harbor Cemetery, the oldest marked cemetery in its county. It was hit by Hurricane Ian in 2022, resulting in 26 fallen trees and close to 100 damaged gravestones.
“I’ve been there 20 years working at the cemetery and we’d never had damaged headstones from a storm before,” Kenner says.
She hired Gulf Coast Forensic Solutions to help repair the cemetery and says the company fixed around 80 headstones in one week—but there’s no getting back those beautiful trees.
“The 26 trees just took away the whole atmosphere. There were great, giant old oaks, hundreds of years old, sun dappled,” she says.
But the repaired headstones have held up, she says, even after other storms have torn through, leaving debris on the ground.
The Louisiana Cemetery Response Task Force
The flooding that damaged Dalfrey’s family members’ graves in 2016 affected more than 800 graves in 74 cemeteries across Louisiana. After that event, the Louisiana Cemetery Response Task Force was created.
“We are the only state that has that,” says Ryan Seidemann, the task force chairman.
The task force is activated when there has been a disaster declaration and reports of cemetery damage. It is currently activated and has been since Hurricane Ida in 2021.
Seidemann says the task force was created to fill a void in federal assistance for cemetery recovery and because in many storm-prone places, there is no one left taking care of cemeteries.
“A lot of folks have moved away over the years. There really weren’t a lot of people to speak for those descendants who had taken off and floated away with the storm surge,” he says.
Like Hunter’s company, the task force helps find, recover, and identify lost caskets. Reburial can cost thousands of dollars, but family members of the deceased can receive funding for it through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s individual assistance program. Because the process of getting that money can be difficult, especially when people are already dealing with fallout from a disaster in other parts of their lives, the task force also helps people apply for it.
And also like Hunter, the task force gets calls from other states where communities find themselves in need of that kind of cemetery restoration expertise—usually along the Atlantic Coast, but sometimes even in the West.
“Oddly, [requests for help have] come from places such as New Mexico, which you wouldn’t think would have flood problems with cemeteries,” says Seidemann, “but apparently as they’ve had wildfire problems and then rainstorms, the undergrowth that is keeping burials in place there is washing off.”
Preparing For Extreme Weather
Climate change is exposing how unprepared cemeteries are for extreme weather events says Jennifer Blanks, a PhD candidate at Texas A&M University who studies cemetery preservation and management.
“Climate change is showing that there actually isn’t really a good protocol or procedure to help with those kinds of issues, in terms of mitigating cemeteries from disasters, and how to recover them afterward,” Blanks says.
That is especially true for Black and other minority cemeteries. In her research, Blanks has found that Black cemeteries in Louisiana have more exposure to flood hazards and proximity to hazardous chemical sites.
“Traditionally, Black residents and non-white people are forced to settle on land that is undesirable for different reasons, whether it cannot produce any type of crop or products, or the value of the land is low because it is in a floodplain,” Blanks says.
One of the solutions is to bury caskets underground instead of in the surface vaults that are common in Louisiana. Niblett’s Bluff Cemetery now requires that new burials be underground, though there is some debate over whether graves in New Orleans are mostly above ground due to tradition or due to the high water table.
Having good documentation of who is buried where is also extremely important for recovery. If a casket is dislodged and a deceased person cannot be identified, if their next of kin cannot be contacted, or if that person can’t pay, the casket will not get reburied. Hunter says that in those cases his company just tries to get the casket out of public view.
This is exactly what happened in Charlotte Harbor Cemetery in Florida. It could not get FEMA assistance, and Kenner says that finding and contacting relatives of people who had died so long ago would be an impossible task for a cemetery that was established in 1879.
Even in Louisiana—which started to require identification on caskets after Hurricane Katrina—the lack of documentation is still a challenge, Seidemann says.
“Compliance with that has been spotty at best,” he said.
Blanks said those who manage cemeteries should work with the community to gather local knowledge of graves and consider creating maps.
“It’s one thing to protect the physical landscape,” she says, “but it would also be a disservice to not preserve or recover the cultural heritage that is in the landscape itself.”
Further Reading
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
3-9-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 2 drawing
4-1-1-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
0-5-2-9-5
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August.
The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown in and around New Orleans.
During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a “big success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined over the past three years in parallel with national trends.
According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.
“I continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,” Moreno said in a statement.
While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down.
“This continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,” Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.
“We remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,” Friloux said.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Jury selection begins Monday in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest auto insurance fraud cases in Louisiana history, with two local attorneys set to stand trial on charges that include fraud and obstruction of justice.
Attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles are accused in an alleged scheme in which drivers — referred to as “slammers” — were paid to intentionally crash into 18-wheelers, file injury lawsuits and allow attorneys to collect the settlements. Both have pleaded not guilty.
63 people have been charged in the case. Many have already pleaded guilty. Motta and Giles are being tried together.
Criminal defense attorney Craig Mordock, who is not directly involved in the case but has been following it closely, said the scope of the litigation is significant.
“You have 10 years of personal injury cases and almost… almost a billion dollars in recovery. That’s all at issue,” Mordock said. “So yeah, this could go two to three weeks.”
Motta’s defense team has advanced a narrative that she was manipulated by a co-defendant.
“There is a compelling narrative that’s been advanced by Vanessa Motta’s lawyer in terms of her being manipulated by one of the co-defendants… about being manipulated by him and him having a prior federal conviction for fraud,” Mordock said.
Motta’s team originally claimed she did not know the crashes were staged. In 2024, her team told FOX 8 she is the victim.
Mordock said Giles faces a more difficult defense.
“I don’t see a favorable juror for one of the other lawyer defendants, Jason Giles. There’s not a clear theory of innocence. This is basically a standard white-collar prosecution where knowledge and intent are going to be the issue,” Mordock said.
The case carries what Mordock described as a shadow. In September 2020, key witness Cornelious Garrison was killed in New Orleans four days after his name appeared in an indictment. Garrison’s admitted killer, Ryan Harris, is expected to testify.
The judge in the case is also allowing the slain witness’s recorded descriptions of the alleged scheme to be admitted at trial.
Mordock said Louisiana drivers have a direct stake in the outcome.
“As your average Louisianan, the idea would be you would save… because the people committing this fraud have been wrapped up. The insurance companies are going to know how to look for this,” Mordock said.
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