Biloxi: Death count accurate

Mississippi Sun Herald ^ | 9-6-2005 | George Pawlaczyk

[Job03]

BILOXI: Coroner insists death count is accurate

Death toll is not being held back

BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK

Sun Herald

EAST BILOXI - The Katrina death toll is not being held back, the Harrison County coroner said as body recovery teams under his direction entered a new phase - searching with heavy equipment.

"There is no reason for me to deceive the public or the news media because that's not going to help the situation either," Coroner Gary Hargrove said. "Because if we start reporting low numbers and keep them low and then all of a sudden, 'bam,' we walk in and put high numbers on it, then you've created another problem. You've created deception."

On Monday, the official death toll for the Mississippi Gulf Coast was 136. Gov. Haley Barbour on Sunday said he expected the unofficial but credible total in Mississippi was 167 and expected to rise.

Prior to a Mass at Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral in Biloxi on Saturday, Biloxi Bishop Thomas Rodi said he had doubts that the death tolls reported through Hargrove's office were accurate. Earlier, Rodi visited the Sun-Herald's offices and said he believed there were "hundreds" of storm dead in the area.

"They should release all of the names or none of the names," Rodi said during an interview Saturday at his offices at the cathedral.

Hargrove, however, said that all Katrina dead, including the unidentified, have been included in the daily Emergency Operations Center tally.

"The community does not need deception at this point in time. They need to be able to trust their elected officials," Hargrove said.

[indcons]

"The community does not need deception at this point in time. They need to be able to trust their elected officials," Hargrove said.
That's the funniest statement I have read in a while. Well, the people of Missisipi and Louisians trusted their governments and their agencies. We know what happened to that trust in the 3 days after the hurricane struck. This faux lament is just another case of a bureaucrat claiming infalliability. Reminds me of that famous statement by Louis of France (don't remember which one): L'etat, c'est moi. Roughly translated from frog it means: I am the state (and the rules don't apply to me).

[B4Ranch]

"the leftists are sooooo disappointed in the low death count."

Have you actually spoken to someone who said they were disappointed in the low death count? Would you mind sharing that persons name?

[mad_as_he$$]

lol Man that is a scary crew. It gives me great pause to think about only voting for the lesser of two evils, but these clowns have taken incompetence to a new level.

[tkathy]

It would be something if the Republican run disaster areas had a low death count and the democrat run disaster areas had a high death count!