[StBernard] Katrina Monument to be rededicated Oct. 11

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish to rededicate the Katrina Monument on Saturday, Oct. 11

Service on the storm's anniversary cancelled because of Hurricane Gustav

 

St. Bernard Parish will hold a brief rededication ceremony Saturday, Oct. 11
at 8:30 a.m. to mark the updated monument honoring the victims of Hurricane
Katrina at Shell Beach. The event that was to be held on the anniversary on
Aug. 29 had to be postponed because of the impending threat of Hurricane
Gustav.

 

However, Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. said it would be respectful
to hold a small event to remember the victims and to have a public viewing
at the Shell Beach memorial site on the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. It
now has a black granite face with 163 names of St. Bernard Parish victims
Hurricane Katrina who died as a result of the storm, whether it was during
the actual event or because of the evacuation. 

 

The newly engraved and corrected monument includes about 20 more names and
corrected spellings for several of the initially listed victims. A few names
were removed because the people originally were listed as missing, but they
indeed survived.

 

Since Taffaro began the effort to update the monument in early 2008,
relatives of victims called to provide death certificates to prove their
loved ones should be added. Also, Coroner Bryan Bertucci provided a list
from a combination of sources updated since the initial monument was erected
for the first anniversary in 2006. Unified Recovery Group, the parish
contractor for demolition and debris removal, funded the costs of updating
the monument.

 

The theme of this year's anniversary events has been to focus on the
community's spirit and the ongoing recovery. 

 

The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Department will direct traffic to park in
an off-street parking area near the Yscloskey Bridge, and a St. Bernard
Urban Rural Transit bus will bring visitors directly to the monument at the
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet.

 

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