Iowa Flood of 2008

And Continuity Of Operations

The EventFactors including heavy snow fall and spring rain assured high water on Iowa rivers. Projections included the possibility of another 100 year flooding as occurred in 1993. But predictions proved inaccurate and the Cedar and Iowa Rivers rose in an unprecedented 500 year flood.

Nine square miles -- 1,300 city blocks -- were evacuated in Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids

• Libraries and museums on east and west side of river

• Predictions made based on broken river gauge• National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library had 2

½ days to evacuate• Cedar Rapids Public Library had 5 ½ hours• African American Museum of Iowa had none

African American Museum of Iowa

• Were in building at 7:30 AM Wednesday just before mandatory evacuation

• Collections manager copied all her files to the network server on 2nd floor before leaving

• Took files (paper & electronic) home to work on exhibit

• Had temporary office space within 10 minutes of leaving museum

• Used long term relationship with Masonic Library• Had immediate access to computer and office space• By Friday had entire staff in large conference room,

phones, computers• Storage space for dry collections• Stipulation by the Masons – all services at no cost• They were “lucky” all business records, server &

mechanicals on 2nd floor• Not all staff copied files to server and lost several

weeks worth of work

As soon as doors were pried open and entrances cleared, Ben was sent off to identify funding sources, write grants, and fill out paperwork for local, state, and federal funding.

Soaked archives, African/American Museum

African American museumcostume

rack

• Did not have a COOP• Had insurance on borrowed exhibits• Had cancelled their flood insurance because

building paid for• Had training on disaster preparedness and

response • Almost entire collection in PastPerfect

including photos of objects

African American Museum of IowaGrand Re-OpeningJanuary 16, 2009

After the flood, June 18, 2008

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

• Were told at 11:30AM Wednesday that they had to be out by 5PM

• Divided into 4 teams: sandbagging, moving items up to higher shelves, special collections to 2nd floor, secure electrical equipment

• Servers on 2nd floor, served libraries in 3 cities, power went out, no online service for several weeks

Cedar Rapids Public Library

• Set up store front within 3 days in West Dale Mall. Already had a presence with branch library

• FEMA does not consider libraries critical, will fund replacing library but not temporary storage

• FEMA sent people to library to do paperwork. Had only 2 computers. Networked with other libraries in area and posted list of free internet access

Cedar Rapids Public Library kept staff employed and feeling useful by having them convert a mall store into a small library

•Have only storefronts: several in the mall, one downtown •Most of the collection is in storage•Lost over 100 computers•Did not have a COOP •Did have training•They have now contracted with their online catalogVendor for backup service/online service if needed•Will designate a PR person for all day/everyday

National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library

• Had 2 ½ days to evacuate• More vulnerable collections up or out• Servers on 2nd level• Told to expect 2” to 2’ water• Immediately began looking for alternate space• Members assisted in locating office and

collection storage space

Czech library flood

water rose to the top

of the shelves,

eight feet

• Had to move collections a couple times• Established presence in Mall – exhibit, store,

meeting/program room, storage (fall)• Exhibit in Cedar Rapids Art Museum (summer)• End of year will be back in Czech Village in

small building• New museum 3-5 years off• Board was very effective: contributed,

advocated, pulled in favors, used connections

• Excellent PR/Advocacy/Fundraising• Presented case day by day, progress, successes• Used website, posted photos• Message is that they are relevant and place of

action• Had a COOP “Lite” with statement that should

work with other entities to collocate• Had training• Although happy with the disaster company

they used, plan to have Letters of Intent

University of Iowa Libraries

• Buildings on east and west side of the river• Staff evacuated from Art and Music Libraries

(west bank) to the Main Library (east bank)• Used website and listserv to keep staff and

public posted • Worked with officials to find alternate office

space for displaced staff

Friday, June 13th • Move as many collections from Main Library

basement as possible• Evacuate 100 Main Library staff members

within a six-hour period• Move servers to central IT• Lock down the Main

Library building• Library served the public

until building closed

Evacuation of collections from basement to 2nd floor without elevators

By 9:00 pm, we had moved:• 50,000 of a half million books in storage• Manuscripts – leaving 5 feet of clearance• Approximately 700 16mm films• 100 staff from Main, Music,

and Art libraries• Sent home for a week with pay

• 20 buildings flooded, including Main Library, Buildings with Art and Music libraries

• Staff relocated to other libraries• Allowed access to Main Library twice a day to

pull and reshelve books• Kept public informed via listservs, postings on

web page• Library Director and Facilities Manager met

twice daily with UI Recovery Team

•In January Music Library collection moved to Main Library (100,000 vols)•In July Art Library collection moved to Main Library (100,000 vols)•In August 200,000 volumes moved out of Main into temporary storage

• Had COOP, included– Purpose/Scope (types of incidents)– Establishment of Incident command center– Disaster Response Team– Damage Assessment and Recovery Guidelines– Relocation Guidelines– Records Protection & Loss Reporting Guidelines– Dealing with Disrupted Work or Academic Environment– Phone numbers– Maintaining Communications with the Board Office– Delegation of authority– Plan Review and Maintenancehttp://www.uiowa.edu/~pubsfty/cimp.pdf

Observations

• Up-to-date disaster plan – knowledgeable people to call

• Include COOP as part of plan• Backup files regularly• Have servers offsite/redundancy• Use your networks to find space, supplies,

whatever• Educate/negotiate with your governing entity

ahead of time

• Establish working relationship with local conservation lab

• Appoint/hire PR person/firm• It’s not business as usual – it’s business as

unusual PLUS • Think outside the box• Communicate at regular intervals with staff,

public

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/

•University of Iowa Critical Incident Management Planhttp://www.uiowa.edu/~pubsfty/cimp.pdf

•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 Librariannancy-e-kraft@uiowa.edu

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/