GLENCOE --As president of St. Helen Cemetery, Robin Notto Landry was prepared to go about the task of helping families locate their loved ones in the damaged cemetery following Hurricane Rita.

"I got a call saying that I should come down and check the cemetery, because they had vaults on the highway. A couple of bodies had been exposed out of the caskets," she said.

As the child of one of the displaced deceased, her emotions eventually came into play.

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"My father is one of them. I just spoke with the coroner, and I described the casket. He said, 'I'm looking at it,'" Landry said.

Walking into the cemetery, Landry said emotions instantly surfaced, but she had to be strong to go about the work of helping the other families affected by the damage.

"I didn't expect this and when I drove up and saw all these caskets, it somewhat made you feel like the day of a funeral. You have this fullness in your heart, and your throat is tight. But then, there were these people out here, and I had to disconnect myself from being a child knowing that was my father to helping the people out here to answer their questions," she said.

The cemetery, which is owned by the Diocese of Lafayette, sustained a massive amount of damage. Several other area cemeteries experienced similiar damage as Hurricane Rita's floodwaters lifted tombs out of the ground, dumping them elsewhere when those waters began to recede. Judging from water lines on the fence that surrounds St. Helen Cemetery, floodwaters from Hurricane Rita covered the entire site.

Headstones and flower vases were knocked over, but the most extensive damage came from the floodwaters that saturated the ground and dislodged cement tombs that contained remains.

Greg Ibert, owner of Ibert's Mortuary in Franklin, was called to the scene by the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office.

He said when he arrived, tombs had floated to the center of Louisiana 83 and others had made it to the wooded area across the street. Two tombs were caught in a coulee just in front of the cemetery. Ibert noticed them when he caught a glimpse of one of the headstones peeking just above the water.

"I just started taking pictures to document where everything was. The first thing was to get the vaults off the road," said Ibert.

He also helped to retrieve the tombs and caskets, as well as secure the area.

In all, more than 50 tombs were displaced from their resting places within the cemetery. Landry said five caskets floated into the highway. Two bodies were placed in body bags and were taken to the parish morgue, along with the caskets, for identification.

Landry spent the day Tuesday working on behalf of the Diocese and St. Helen's Catholic Church, using a map of the cemetery to try to determine where each tomb belonged.

"On the map, I am circling all of the vaults that are no longer in place. My husband and I will be putting grave markers down for when the ground is dry enough to bring the vaults back with headstones on them. The ones that don't have headstones, what we're doing is working with the families to help us identify the vaults," she said.

Once families have identified the vaults, the vaults are spray painted with the name of the deceased.

Olivia Sue Patrick and her uncle, Ernest Metz, drove out to the cemetery in hopes of identifying the dislodged tombs of her aunt, uncle and first cousin. Luckily, the two were able to find them. But that did not stop the emotions.

"It's devastating. Words can not explain it. There are not adequate words to say, because it was an act of God. It's something we cannot control," Patrick said.

Landry said the main concerns of family members she has spoken to are how and when the tombs will be replaced.

"As each one comes, I am assuring them that this will be taken care of. It will be no expense out of their pocket. This will be taken care of," she said. "Because the ground is wet and all this mud, it's going to take some time. I want to assure the loved ones that this is being taken care of."

She said the church and the Diocese will meet soon to determine how the situation can be corrected to prevent the problem from happening in the future. Landry said she believes elevating the cemetery and replacing the fence with a taller, stronger one will be an improvement.

"There are a lot of vaults with damage. So that's going to have to be replaced," said Ibert, who is helping with repairs to the cemetery. "It's going to be a lot of work, be we are going to get through this."

Info box

Due to the damage at St. Helen's Cemetery caused by flooding from Hurricane Rita, Robin Notto Landry, president of St. Helen's Cemetery, is asking those with family or friends interred in the cemetery to participate in the identification process.

The tombs and caskets must be identified before being replaced. While some caskets have serial numbers that will aid in identifying the deceased, family input is needed to help identify other displaced tombs.

For more information about identifying a loved one in the cemetery, call Landry at 923-6196 or 578-5770.