West Texas is drying out after heavy rain caused flooding and damaged more than 300 graves at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
"The soil just gets real heavy and collapses down," said James Porter work crew leader at the cemetery.
The crew is working extra hours to repair the damage caused when recent storms flooded grave sites.
"All of our employees are veterans so it bothers and affects them. And many of us have people we served with placed in a national cemetery," said Porter.
The painstaking work involves refilling burial sites with fresh soil, tamping it down and adjusting and cleaning headstones.
The 17 person crew takes pride in caring for more than 45 thousand graves at the cemetery and has been working extra hours to get the job done as quickly as possible.
"You won't be able to tell that the grave site was affected at all, " said Porter.
"It looks good no damage was done," said Guadalupe Coffey who came to visit her daughter's grave.
It was spared but several others nearby did sink into the soft, sandy ground. Coffey wanted to visit on her daughter's birthday Monday but the cemetery was flooded that day.
"I wish they would have left it grass. I think that would have alleviated the problem." said Sean Coffey. He and others questions whether removing grass to conserve water at the cemetery caused some of the flooding problems.
"I understand the water usage issue but it was such a nice place when it was all grass," said Sean Coffey.
Officials with Xx who oversee the cemetery and others in the region say flooding is not caused by what's on the surface of the grave but what's beneath.
And many "older grave sites didn't have liners."
Newer burial sites will be in pre-placed crypts. And heavy rains did not do any damage to an area where crypts for future burials exist now.
Over time fewer families will have to worry when heavy rains soak the sacred ground where so many veterans are buried.
In the meantime, the crew at Fort Bliss National Cemetery won't rest until they repair every grave affected by the storms. Workers expect to finish by Saturday.
"These guys have 100 percent drive and determination," said Porter.
