Hurricane in Mississippi Assessment of damage to library, archival and museum collections September 22-29, 2005
Hurricane Katrina On August 29 th, 2005 Katrina came ashore at the Louisiana and Mississippi boarder subjecting the entire Mississippi coast and two thirds of the state to the strong right side of the storm.
Two phases of the storm A tsunami like storm surge of from 26 to 38 feet came ashore and moved up to 6 miles inland. Hurricane winds, rains and tornados swept further inland over two thirds of the state of Mississippi.
On the Mississippi coast The storm surge obliterated beach front neighborhoods leaving only steel frames of modern buildings while wooden building constructions were smashed into piles of debris.
Four weeks after the storm cities such as Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis remained without water and electricity. The town of Pass Christian no longer exists.
(sidebar) Throughout the Katrina and Rita events, New Orleans received complete and continuous news coverage. Although relatively unreported, destruction in towns and cities in Mississippi and displacement of residents was as catastrophic as it was in New Orleans.
Damage to Collections Throughout the Gulf region over 100 school libraries and 25 public libraries were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The fate of Mississippi collections ranged from complete loss to survival without damage. Much archival material in the South remains in private family collections and the extent of loss in that category remains unknowable. Accumulated assessments of damage to Mississippi library, museum and archives tells a good news/bad news story.
Of 13 collections assessed in 10 cities 2 no longer exist 3 survived with major damage and loss 8 survived damaged (view of Biloxi Public Library)
We anticipated mold damage
Contexts of Damage due to Mold Housing or enclosure factors Building factors Behavioral factors General factors
Housing or enclosure factors Exhibit cases and Tyvek envelopes nurtured mold Glazed wall mounted materials were at risk Polyethylene sheets, used as protective coverings, nurtured mold
Building factors Plywood board-up remained in place inhibiting building ventilation After four weeks, indoor ecologies mirror outdoor except for the dark and stillness indoors.
Behavioral factors An inappropriate “germ theory” of mold propagation was applied suggesting that isolation or discard of molded materials is needed and that ventilation will spread mold growth
General factors Evidentially salt water inhibits mold activity Mold presents a long term risk to collections blooming as passive drying is completed
What we did Listened to stories of the hurricane Demonstrated collection stabilization and methods for arrest of mold. Produced assessments of prevailing conditions and recommended actions Composed and advanced NEH emergency fundings. (4 of 4 approved) Proposed CALM response services.
What we did Listen to the stories and experiences
Resilient Mississippians
Collection stabilization Demonstrated drying of archives and safe handling of mold. Interacted with salvage companies to prevent damaging collection evacuations
Composed NEH requests Described prevailing conditions and risks Detailed recommended actions “walked” requests to the NEH division of Preservation and Access Debriefed to other teams and coordinators
Future response capacity Proposal to integrate AIC and training programs to respond more effectively. Proposed longer on- site presence of conservators Proposed more co- ordination between on-site efforts
AASLH assessment team 01/MS Ashley Barnett, Driver, Fire & Rescue, Burnet, TX Joy Barnett, Dispatcher, Texas Association of Museums Randy Silverman, Conservator, University of Utah Gary Frost, Conservator, University of Iowa
acknowledgements American Association for State and Local History Mississippi Department of Archives and History NEH Division of Preservation and Access
Off-shore Casino Downtown Biloxi
More Casinos
Piano in a tree