At least three graves are threatened by flooding at Washington Memorial Cemetery in Jensen Beach after a nearby neighborhood pond overflowed during last week’s heavy rain. The pond lies next to the cemetery, allowing water to spread onto the burial grounds. Burials have been suspended, leaving some families unable to lay their loved ones to rest.
Water is also approaching some caskets already buried there. Families are concerned that increasingly saturated ground could allow caskets to move or float, adding another burden as they grieve and raising fears about what further flooding could mean for the cemetery.
Henrietta Cooper had intended to bury her brother, Henry, at the cemetery over the weekend, near other members of their family. Those arrangements were put on hold because of the floodwater. Cooper said she was shocked when she visited the grounds. “I came this way yesterday,” she said. “I looked at it and said, ‘Wow.’ It’s unbelievable.” With the burial delayed, she is considering whether she will have to choose another cemetery, despite wanting her brother to remain with their relatives. “I may have to find some other place to put him but all our family’s here,” Cooper said. “I would like for him to be here.”
Allecia Dixon, a volunteer whose family manages the historic cemetery, said one casket has already begun to sink. Her family is worried that additional flooding could create a more serious problem for those buried on the property. “Our fear, potentially, is that if we have more flooding that we’re going to have floating caskets,” Dixon said. She said that had happened once before.
The threat now extends to at least three graves affected by water from the overflowing pond. For families with relatives buried there, the concern goes beyond the current water levels to the possibility that loved ones might have to be buried again elsewhere.
Dixon said having to relocate a loved one’s remains because of flooding could compound the pain of families seeking closure after a death. Cooper, meanwhile, remains unable to complete the burial she had planned for her brother. “I can’t wait too long,” she said. The cemetery’s problems come as other families in flood-hit communities cope with inundated streets and damage to their homes.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has requested a major disaster declaration to help obtain federal funding for Central and South Florida following the historic flooding. At the cemetery, families are still facing both postponed burials and concerns about existing graves.