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FLOODS OF 2008
Cedar Rapids
Work your politicians
Opening/unblocking doors to begin air circulation to reduce mold outbreaks
TRIAGE WORKSTREAMS
•CLEAN AND DRY to new environmentally controlled space, acquired while waiting for flood waters to subside
•ITEMS FOR FREEZING set up water stations, rinse, and pack out
•ARTWORK ON WALLS retrieved by paper conservators, stabilized and taken to conservation lab
•CAN’T FREEZE separated out and sent to the University of Iowa for assessment
•TEXTILES •20th century items frozen to deal with later•Everything else left in the mud for specialists to retrieve and assess
CLEAN AND DRY
•Acquired new environmentally controlled space while waiting for flood waters to subside
•Started evacuation of this material while other areas being set up for triage work
•Excellent place to start your volunteers, minimal health hazards, immediate satisfaction of results
Dry material to new storage area
WET, MUDDY, MOLDY MATERIALS
•Takes time to set up
•Difficult to get enough sinks set up
•Hard to keep materials wet until making it to the sink
•Volunteers not prepared to work in the sun
•Tent erected as soon as possible
•Abandoned collection prioritization as didn’t know what was what until mud rinsed off
Keep items in mud until ready to rinse and pack for freezing
You have at least two times to make a “discard” selection. If you can’t see it, rinse it, save it, make a decision later.
Can’t get too many sinks!
Tent provided needed relief from the sun
15 minute errands took up to 5 hours
ITEMS CAN’T FREEZE
•If it was artwork/flatwork, item taken out of frame and sent to State Historical Society of Iowa lab for cleaning
•Costume textiles, left in mud for specialist
•Wooden objects set aside for wood conservator
•All other set aside, dried as best we could, packed, and sent to University of Iowa to deal with later
•UI officials took time out to find storage area for us
Artwork/flatwork taken out of frames and taken to the State Historical Society of Iowa Conservation Lab in Iowa City
Textiles left in mud until textile conservators arrived
Think before you discard. This piano will probably never play again but it is important to the community. It is now a flood artifact and tells two stories -- the original story and flood story.
15
Flood water can come from underground.Johnson County Historical Society archives extraction from 3 1/2 feet of water
Although the nonprofits were able to enter their buildings fairly quickly, the City of Cedar Rapids would not let staff or volunteer conservators into city buildings.
Being Visible and Staying Open for Business Critical
Offices set up and storage secured before floods receded
Available to the public within days after the floods – store fronts in the Malls
Gave interviews, held fundraisers, continued programming, wherever, whenever
Realize you are in a disaster situation
Do the Best you can and ---
Let it Go!
PROTECT YOURSELF • Wear a N95 disposable respirator • Use disposable gloves if handling
the material• Goggles or protective eyewear
should be worn• Don’t touch your eyes or mouth if
you’ve touched a moldy item• Wash your hands as soon as possible
once vacated infected area• Take a shower and wash your
clothes in hot water and bleach• Illnesses due to exposure to mold can result from both
high level, short-term exposures and lower level, long-term exposures.
Observations
• It’s not business as usual – it’s business as unusual PLUS
• You and your staff were in a disaster; stress will show
• Being prepared and using good preservation practices paid off
• Ditto everything Nancy Baker just said
African American Museum of IowaGrand Re-OpeningJanuary 16, 2009
After the flood, June 18, 2008
Resources:
•From Disaster to Hope: Flood 2008 by Informatics Inc, Cedar Rapids, Iowa at http://informaticsinc.com/ under “Video Showcase”
•University of Iowa Flood Video at http://www.uiowa.edu/floodrecovery/
•Heritage Preservation http://www.heritagepreservation.org/Select Heritage Emergency National Task Force
•Pocket Response Plan (this can be your first baby step toward a plan)•dPlan, an online disaster planning template•Field Guide Emergency Response booklet & DVD•Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel•24 hour hotline 202-661-8068
Ebaugh, Alicia. "Salvaging Collections is Like a Hidden Treasure Hunt." The Gazette (Cedar Rapids), August 4, 2008. http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080804/NEWS/413671225/0/rss04
Includes 4 videos:• How to salvage flood-damaged photos• How to salvage flood-damaged LP’s, CD’s and DVD’s• How to repair flood damaged books• How to salvage flood damaged documents
Nancy E Kraft, HeadPreservation DeptAnd Preservation [email protected]
319/335-5286 or 319-335-5387
http://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/flood/ http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/index.html
Preservation Beathttp://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/