Press Release

The Philadelphia Inquirer
Scientists, historians head to Gulf Coast region to conduct research
September 16, 2005 , Friday

PHILADELPHIA - As relief workers, soldiers and engineers begin to restore stability to the Gulf Coast region, scholars from around the country are preparing to go there to do research for the future.

Oral historians plan to collect the stories of Hurricane Katrina's victims while scientists want to study the storm's impact on land and buildings.

Henry Fischer III, director of the Center for Disaster Research and Education at Millersville University, will lead a team of five researchers to study the arduous task of identifying the bodies left behind.

An expert who studied body identification after December's tsunami in Asia , Fischer planned to present his findings this week at a National Science Foundation Conference in Washington.

"The body-handling in New Orleans is just beginning," said Fischer, a sociologist and author of "Response to Disaster: Fact Versus Fiction & Its Perpetuation."

"The work we share from the Asia study should impact efforts in New Orleans."

Based on what researchers learned in Thailand , experts in New Orleans can expect that body identifications could take years to complete, Fischer said.

"When there's a large amount of bodies floating around along with debris and it's very warm and very moist," Fischer said. "It's going to be extremely difficult to handle bodies in that condition, very difficult to keep them in one piece."

According to Fischer's Thailand research, the disaster victim-identification units estimated that it would take two more years to identify the final 60 percent of the bodies of tsunami victims, "with many probably never being identified."

"There were lots of families in a great deal of pain and angst in an effort to obtain the bodies of their relatives" in Thailand , Fischer said. "This will not be a pleasant experience for all those involved in that kind of work" in New Orleans.

Fischer said that in New Orleans he planned to "stay out of the way" while observing rescue and reconstruction operations.

"We're trying to find out what worked and what didn't work this time on a whole array of issues," Fischer said, "and we want to learn how organizations are handling this particular challenge."

Benjamin Horton, professor of environmental sciences at the University of Pennsylvania , is seeking a federal grant to study the role of wetlands in protecting coastal communities from the storm.

Horton studied physical and socioeconomic impacts of the tsunami in Malaysia and Thailand.

"In areas where mangroves were removed artificially, I saw more destruction there than in areas where the mangroves were intact," said Horton, who also planned to present his findings this week in Washington . On the Gulf Coast , "I want to look at areas where wetlands exist versus areas where wetlands have been removed through industry and housing."

Gilberto Mosqueda, assistant professor of engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo , is in the Gulf region studying the structural damage wrought by Katrina.

Trained as an earthquake engineer, Mosqueda is researching ways to reinforce buildings against earthquakes and hurricanes.

"We're looking at the construction of buildings that didn't do well in the storm and we're comparing that to buildings that did better," said Mosqueda, who has been conducting research mostly in Gulfport and Biloxi , Miss.

Mosqueda, who has a federal research grant for his work, uploads his research to the Internet nightly to provide up-to-date information to other engineers.

For oral historians, the challenge will be talking to the victims when they are ready to tell their stories.

Kim Lacy Rogers, professor of history at Dickinson College and author of "Righteous Lives: Narratives of the New Orleans Civil Rights Movement," will go to New Orleans soon. Rogers described New Orleans as a "beautiful, historic and unique American city" and said the musical and cultural losses inflicted by Katrina were severe.

"We need to document this process of loss and rebuilding and learning," she said.

Mary Marshall Clark, who directs the Columbia University Oral History Research Office _ an organization that has compiled hundreds of interviews related to Sept. 11, 2001 _ is encouraging oral historians in the Gulf region to collect stories. "Great attention needs to be paid to local people with local knowledge," said Clark.

"It's very important to see this as a long-term effort and not traumatize people by asking them."

Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
Copyright 2005 The Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer ( Pennsylvania )