ODIN-PIMRIS Review Meeting & Training, USP, Suva, Fiji 4-6 May 2011 Suzie Davies, IODE Group of Experts on Marine Information Management (GE-MIM)

Agenda Thursday Case studies How ready are libraries for disaster? What GBRMPA did – were we ready? Video 'Introduction to Disaster Management and Preparedness' Discussion Video 'Disaster Planning' Discussion Friday Online chat with Nancy Kraft (expert)

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) Australian Government agency Based in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia Located on banks of Ross Creek, 800 metres from Townsville Harbour, and Pacific Ocean No disaster plan Records Unit houses 20,000 paper files Located on ground floor No disaster plan

GBRMPA Library & Image Services Stock 10,000 books Thousands of volumes of journals 70,000 photographic slides (originals) Thousands of maps & hydrographical charts (many unique) >100 rare books of historical importance 2,000 unpublished reports (unique) Shipping container in car park housing unique aerial photography & serial back runs Located on ground floor No disaster plan

Cyclone Yasi - February 2011 c. Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)

Cyclone Yasi – BOM Prediction System will be a Category 5 cyclone (most severe), largest system ever to cross Australian coast Winds in centre expected to be 290 km/hour Will cross North Qld coast on Wednesday evening somewhere between Cairns and Townsville Crossing will be close to a high tide with an additional storm surge of 5 metres Townsville City Council published possible inundation maps showing 75% of Townsville potentially flooded

GBRMPA's Decisions 8.30am Tuesday – CEO held an All Staff meeting CEO decided that all valuable ground floor material had to be raised to above waist height Had to be completed by 1 pm Staff had to then go home to make final preparations & evacuate homes if in flood prone areas Staff were not to return to work until directed CEO gave Records Manager & Library Manager permission to call for volunteers to help move Records and Library material

Implications for Library Had to move: 5,000 books 3,000 journal issues 1,000 sheets holding 24,000 photographic slides 3,000 maps Move from ground floor to 1 st floor 40 staff volunteers came to help – human chain technique Within no more than 4 hours

Impact of Cyclone Yasi on Townsville Cyclone crossed coast at Cardwell, approx. 200 km north of Townsville Townsville experienced a high level Category 3 cyclone 80,000 trees were blown over, cutting roads & power lines Telephone lines and mobile phone access severely reduced Water supply disrupted for several days Power lost for 7-8 days, some areas for 2 weeks Small storm surge of 2 metres (no inundation of GBRMPA offices)

Impact on Library collection Water leakages on 1 st floor damaged 250 books 1,000 slides Most staff returned to work Monday 7 February 25 volunteers assisted with moving books from 1 st floor to ground floor (completed in 1 day) – human chain technique Wet items separated

Recovery Actions List made of all wet items Slides manually patted dry, laid out on tables, returned to sheets All slides saved Books placed on tables in car park in sun to remove excess water Placed inside with 24 hour air conditioning, pedestal fans, hourly page turning, spraying with Glenn20 (for 2 weeks) 150 books were saved (100 discarded)

Saying Thank You 1 month later Library & Records staff hosted an all staff morning tea in Library To show our appreciation to all volunteers To show that Library was open for business again

4 sentences that lead to wisdom... I'm sorry. I was wrong. I don't know. I need help.

Lessons Learned Wear shoes! Acknowledge & learn from mistakes made Get advice from experts (eg. National Archives of Australia) Develop proper 'Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Plan' Already begun with new section in Library wiki 'Cyclone Yasi – lessons learned'

What Do You Think? What did we do right? What did we do wrong? What should we have done? What should we do before the next cyclone season?