[StBernard] Katrina Monument rededicated

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish rededicates updated Katrina Monument

Ceremony at Shell Beach memorializes victims of the storm 

 

St. Bernard Parish Government officials rededicated the updated monument at
Shell Beach that honors the victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

 

Although the event that was to be held on the anniversary on Aug. 29 was
postponed because of the impending threat of Hurricane Gustav, Parish
President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. said it was still important to mark the new
monument with a small ceremony 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 164 names of St. Bernard Parish
victims of Hurricane Katrina who died as a result of the storm, whether it
was during the actual event or because of the evacuation. 

 

Taffaro said that the monument's critical purpose is to remind people to
never forget the area's vulnerabilities and that it is important to
constantly be vigilant and fight for more levee and coastal protection. He
also said it is respectful that the monument rest at Shell Beach on the
channel, one of the closest spots in the parish to the Gulf of Mexico. 

 

After brief comments from Taffaro and a scripture reading from John Gordon
from Sen. David Vitter's office, Taffaro and Councilmen Mike Ginart, Ray
Lauga and Frank Auderer read each name of the victims listed on the
monument. 

 

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
survived.

 

Taffaro began the effort to update the monument in early 2008, and relatives
of victims provided death certificates to prove their loved ones should be
added. 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. 

 

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