Preparedness Pays Off
in Recent Disasters

In September, northwest Georgia was hard hit by rain storms that caused massive flooding in several counties. The first floor of the Seven Springs City Museum in Powder Springs was flooded, but fortunately employees had time to move collections to the second floor before the flooding. Because of their early mitigation efforts, very few objects were affected by the disaster. An empty building behind the museum has been set up for storage and drying, and restoration of the building has begun.

In the Pacific Ocean, the United States Territory of American Samoa was devastated by an earthquake and towering tsunami. The American Samoa National Park offices and visitors center in the town of Pago Pago were severely damaged; National Park Service response teams were on the ground, and records and artifact recovery is being coordinated in Honolulu. Damage was reported at the Legislative, Judicial, and Land Registrar's offices, but thanks to recent disaster training, staff acted quickly to retrieve and freeze damaged documents. The Heritage Emergency National Task Force staff at Heritage Preservation is monitoring reports of damage and requests for assistance.

You can never be too prepared! As hurricane season comes to a close and the winter storm season begins, make sure that plans are in place for disasters of all shapes and sizes. Heritage Preservation’s Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel and Field Guide to Emergency Response are great resources for getting started on the path to preparedness. You can find other resources and track major disasters as they happen on the Heritage Emergency National Task Force Web site: www.heritageemergency.org.