Spring 2005 Update

NPS Team Tells Task Force about Hurricane Response

The continuing need for effective response was brought home to the Heritage Emergency Task Force by a compelling presentation about the new National Park Service Museum Emergency Response Team at the February 2, 2005, meeting. Pam West, Director, NPS Museum Resource Center of the National Capital Area, and Robert Sonderman, Senior Staff Archeologist, described how the team was formed after Hurricane Isabel hit Jamestown in 2003, devastating the visitors’ center and the finest collection of 17th-century glass and ceramics in the country.

Pam West, Director, Museum Resource Center, and Robert Sonderman, Senior Staff Archeologist, National Park Service
Museum Emergency Response Team members are trained in how the federal Incident Command System works, keep a Ready Bag—including necessities like gloves, a mask, and the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel—and can be ready to respond to a disaster on short notice. Hurricane Ivan hit the Gulf Islands National Seashore with a 50-foot wave just three weeks after the team finished their training. The team was not able to reach the collections for nine days after the storm because of safety concerns, and then had to evacuate the island before Tropical Storm Matthew moved in. Challenges included finding supplies and transporting them to the island by boat, since all bridges were washed out, as well as setting up temporary housing.

Their heroic efforts to stabilize and evacuate collections—despite water moccasins, spiders, and toxic mold—illustrated the hard work and skill necessary to rescue artifacts. The talk also highlighted the critical importance of both planning and good relationships with first responders.

The Task Force meeting marked the tenth anniversary of its founding. AIA Chief Operating Officer Jim Dinegar welcomed the group to the same room where the National Summit on Emergency Response convened in December 1994. The summit led to the formation of the Task Force early the following year.

Tom Mallon, Director of the Division of Preservation and Access, National Endowment for the Humanities
The Task Force is a partnership of 36 federal agencies and national service organizations co-sponsored by Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). David Maurstad, FEMA’s Acting Director for Mitigation, pledged his agency’s continued participation. Maurstad praised current Task Force efforts to work more closely with local communities “where the action is.”

Tom Mallon, the new director of preservation and access for the National Endowment for the Humanities, announced that NEH has awarded Heritage Preservation a grant to support development, production, and dissemination of a new Field Guide to Emergency Response. The Field Guide and its companion DVD will complement the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel and give step-by-step advice on tackling the most critical problems staff will face in an emergency. Dr. Mallon thanked the Task Force for developing the Wheel, which he has seen in many of the libraries, archives, and historical societies where he conducts research.

John Ketchum, FEMA’s Federal Preservation Officer, announced several new initiatives for 2005. Heritage Preservation, in partnership with FEMA and the National Endowment for the Arts, has begun updating Resources for Recovery: Post-Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions. The new version will include more Federal agencies and cover planning and mitigation resources. This summer FEMA will release a new guide to help local officials integrate historic and cultural resources into community mitigation plans. The agency will also sponsor a focus group at its Emergency Management Institute, which will explore a curriculum aimed at improving coordination between cultural stewards and emergency responders.

John Ketchum, Federal Preservation Officer, FEMA, and Larry Reger, President, Heritage Preservation
Larry Reger, President of Heritage Preservation, welcomed two new member organizations to the Task Force—the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Two new Task Force working groups were proposed: one on historic properties and the other on distribution of information following hurricanes and other major events. Interest in international issues continues. Summaries of damage to cultural heritage by the Asian Tsunami can be found at www.iccrom.org/eng/news/2005_en/various_en/01_0tsunami_en.htm.

The original idea to form a task force was proposed at the national summit in 1994 by Richard Krimm, then FEMA’s associate director for response and recovery. He advised the group to take on commitments with realistic goals, cautioning “don’t swallow the whale but take it one sardine at a time." Mr. Ketchum noted that the last decade has borne out that advice, as the Task Force has made steady progress toward its original goals.

The Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel, developed in 1996, is now available in five other languages with a sixth on the way. Other successful Task Force initiatives include Cataclysm and Challenge, Flood/Hurricane Packets, the “Train-the-Trainers” program, and public information projects. Most recently, Alliance for Response has broken new ground in bringing together cultural stewards and emergency responders.

Still, recent surveys confirm how few cultural institutions have up-to-date emergency plans. As one member noted, there will be plenty of work for the Task Force over the next 10 years.