Flood Assistance
Additional disaster resources are listed on the State Archives' Disaster Assistance page.
Emergency Preparedness and Records
The New York State Archives is available to help you protect your records from flooding. Should your region be involved, and once personnel are safely provided for, here are some brief pointers to keep in mind regarding your records and collections:
- Revisit your emergency plan for phone lists and other contact information
- Revisit your institution’s priority collections lists and locations
- Revisit facilities layouts with attention to evacuation routes, and locations of stairs and exit doors, fire hoses, water and CO2 fire extinguishers, emergency lights, alarm pull boxes, sprinkler shut off valves and first aid kits.
- Locate alternative power sources such as generators
- Gather plastic sheeting to be used as covering for collections stored in vulnerable locations
If you’re affected by flooding, we want to hear from you.
New York State Archives/Government Records Services:
- Local governments may be eligible for up to $20,000 in emergency disaster recovery funding for damaged records. For eligibility requirements please see the disaster grant guidelines at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/grants/grants_lgrmif_disasterguide.shtml
and contact your State Archives' Regional Advisory Officer, listed at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/directories/dir_staff.shtml#Advisory
or call the Archives’ general number (518) 474-6926.
New York State Archives/Archival Services:
- For advice on salvage techniques, contact the State Archives preservation staff at:
- Maria Holden: (518) 474-4856
- Marie Culver: (518) 473-7954
- Susan Bove: (518) 408-1925
Here are links to reliable sites that can provide further information:
New York State Department of Education, Office of Cultural Education:
http://www.oce.nysed.gov/disaster_P/DisasterPreparednessFolder/DisasterPreparedness/index.html
- Provides extensive lists of resources for institutions and for individuals
State Emergency Management Office (SEMO): www.semo.state.ny.us
- Provides weather updates including flood warnings, watches, and advisories
American Institute for Conservation (AIC): http://aic.stanford.edu/
- The Collections Emergency Response Team provides 24-hour phone assistance at (202) 661-8068
Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC): http://www.nedcc.org/services/disaster.php
- Provides 24-hour phone assistance at (978) 470-1010
Heritage Preservation: http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PROGRAMS/TFcurrent.html
- Requests for assistance are limited to institutions in the Midwest at present, however generally available resources are also listed here