Task Force Aids Allison Victims
The 2001 hurricane season opened with Allison, a powerful tropical storm that inundated parts of Texas and Louisiana in early June. When President George W. Bush declared 28 Texas counties and 10 Louisiana parishes federal disaster areas, the Task Force responded quickly to help both cultural institutions and residents recover.
During the following week, Heritage Preservation staff assembled and mailed 125 Flood/Hurricane Information Packets to museums, archives, and historic sites in Texas and Louisiana. Components for an additional 100 packets were shipped to AMIGOS Library Services for redistribution to libraries. The Task Force worked with FEMA officials to make copies of “The Ten Tips” and other public service information articles available at the FEMA Disaster Field Office in Houston. In addition, the Texas Historical Commission, State Emergency Management Agency, and FEMA regional office keep Resources for Recovery in stock.
The Task Force will continue to provide updates on recovery efforts. There was apparently only minor damage to most museums in the Houston area, although the Houston Symphony headquarters and Texas Medical Center Library were very hard hit. The intensity and speed of the flooding made some losses inevitable, and many people expressed relief that the overall damage was not worse. One Texas county official described Allison as “a wake-up call to prepare. Just think what a hurricane would do.”
