Heritage Emergency National Task Force
Midwest Flooding Conference Call
June 18, 2008
Larry Reger, President of Heritage Preservation, began the conference call by stating that the Heritage Emergency National Task Force operates under the principal that preservation of life is the most important issue in disasters. He let the group know that Heritage Preservation would be posting on its Web site information related to the flooding, links to various resources, and a summary of the conference call.
Alan Aiches, Historic Preservation Specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), informed everyone that FEMA is still more in the response phase on environmental and historic preservation issues in the Midwest. The agency is aware of historic districts in Iowa and Indiana that have been affected, and possibly more in Wisconsin. The water has to recede before damage assessments can be done, but FEMA is staffing Joint Field Offices (JFOs) and Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs). There is not a lot of information about the flooding that may occur downstream, but a large portion of the water has been diverted into farmland. Public Assistance has been declared in several Iowa counties. Individual Assistance is available to people who have been forced to leave their homes and need shelter; Public Assistance is available when there has been damage to an area’s infrastructure.
Frank Adinolfe of the Small Business Administration (SBA) explained that the SBA can loan up to $1.5 million to a non-profit. In order to qualify, the non-profit has to be located in a Presidentially-declared disaster county (Individual or Public Assistance) and cannot be owned by a municipality. There is more information available on the SBA website, www.sba.gov. He also mentioned that SBA is co-located in all FEMA DRCs.
Representatives of affected states offered disaster reports. Detailed descriptions of the information provided can be viewed here. Jerome Thompson, the State Curator at the State Historical Society of Iowa, mentioned that Cyndi Sweet and Sandi Yoder of the Iowa Museum Association were tracking reports of museum damage, and he is tracking damage to historic properties. He issued a press release about their efforts as well as set up a series of conference calls so institutions can submit further reports. The damage is extensive, especially in Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City.
Gordon Hendrickson, the Iowa State Archivist, reported that one courthouse had records in a basement flooded with water and sewage. Howard Lowell of the National Records and Archives Administration mentioned that the General Services Administration was doing an investigation at the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids. Barbara Mitchell, the Iowa Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, provided information on historic locations. Damage is particularly severe in Cedar Rapids.
From Indiana, Chief of Grants and Administration in the Historic Preservation and Archaeology Department, Steve Kennedy, reported that the most visible damage was to the Moscow Covered Bridge, which was lifted and dropped into the channel and completely flattened. There is a recovery operation going on now, and they were able to get funding from a state historical group to bring in an engineer to assist them. Also, the Iowa Department of Transportation pledged up to $3 million for a rehabilitation project. They are unaware of damage to other historic sites at this point.
Jim Corridan, Indiana State Archivist, noted that while there are libraries across the state with building damage, most collections seem to be unharmed. There are also a number of counties and municipalities with damaged records. Overall, they do not have a good handle on the total damage yet, as they are still focused on primary needs such as food and shelter. He also mentioned that he would reach out to the Indiana museum community to find out if they have any damage to report.
Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer of Wisconsin, Jim Draeger, said that he has asked for damage reports through a listserv. The town of Baraboo seems to have been the most affected, but they have no confirmed reports. There was flooding in Gays Mills, La Valle, and Janesville, where historic districts are probably affected. More information can be viewed here.
From Minnesota, Bob Herskovitz of the State Historical Society reported that they have damage to one historic site, and that four counties had been declared disasters by the Governor. Charles Rodgers, Government Records Specialist at the Minnesota State Archives, said that his office has no reports of damage.
Mark Miles, Missouri Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer reported that they are in a state of waiting. The area north of St. Louis may be affected by flooding. Clarksville, a National Historic Community, has no levee system and is sandbagging to protect itself. The town of Hannibal has a flood wall. It is believed that St. Louis will be bypassed, although the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is currently experiencing flooding.
From Illinois, State Historic Preservation Officer Bill Wheeler said that they are in a similar situation to Missouri. There are several locations that were affected by flooding in 1993 that are currently under threat, such as Elsah, which is a town listed on the National Register of Historic Places. No one had called with any damage reports yet.
Reports from members of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force followed. Eric Pourchot from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC) said that his organization has received a request for assistance through the American Association of Museums from the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library. The AIC has trained responders ready to provide help and money to support travel costs. They also have a 24-hour hotline where affected parties can speak with conservators: 202-661-8068.
Colin Turner from the Midwest Art Conservation Center announced that Jim Kern, Executive Director of Brucemore Historic Site, has offered his location in Cedar Rapids as a jumping-off point for salvage efforts. Cyndi Sweet of the Iowa Museum Association added that she has been in contact with Kern as well, and they are trying to decide if they can offer state-wide help or if it will be focused on Cedar Rapids. Jennifer Sandy of the Midwest office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said she was also coordinating with Kern to see how they can help, and that they have created a page with resources on their Web site and are handing out a tip sheet for handling the floods, and that they are working with groups in Iowa and will be putting out a call for volunteers.
Rod Scott, trustee of the Iowa State Historical Society and member of the National Barn Alliance, brought up the fact that many century farms have been damaged. Iowa has the most farms and barns listed on the National Register of Historic Places, most of which are located in the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area. They are concerned about the lack of survey and inventory information in the rural landscape, and would like to get a handle on the damage to historic farm structures.
Mary Catlin from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation said that they are trying to get input on damage and how they can help, especially when it comes to getting through to policy makers. They want the State Historic Preservation Offices and FEMA to be aware of their role.
Jane Long noted that Heritage Preservation has a limited number of the Emergency Response and Salvage Wheels that can be distributed free to affected institutions through state agencies. The Heritage Preservation Web site also has valuable information, such as the “Save Your Treasures the Right Way” document and a guide for working with FEMA and the SBA. An on-line form to post and review damage reports, response information, and requests for assistance is available here.
There was a short discussion about Programmatic Agreements, which are between FEMA and State Historic Preservation Offices and sometimes the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. It was unclear whether the agreements that existed in the Midwest during the flooding in 1993 are still in place.
Lastly, funding assistance was discussed. Information on public and private resources is available on the Heritage Emergency National Task Force Web site.
At the close of the discussion, the next conference call was scheduled for Wednesday, 6/25/08, at 11:00 am EST.
