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 are 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 . The legal documents that were recovered there have been frozen and await drying by local response teams. 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.

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The Heritage Emergency National Task Force s a partnership of 40 government agencies and national service organizations formed in 1995. An initiative of Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Task Force has helped to protect cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies. Find valuable disaster resources at the Task Force Web site, www.heritageemergency.org

Heritage Preservation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the United States. By identifying risks, developing innovative programs, and providing broad public access to expert advice, Heritage Preservation assists museums, libraries, archives, historic preservation and other organizations, as well as individuals, in caring for our endangered heritage.