Flood & Storm Damage: Historic & Older Buildings

A series of massive weather fronts blasted across North America in late
January resulting in significant loss of life and property due to snow
blizards, heavy rains and flooding. Record low temperatures and high snow
falls were recorded. Floods continue to threaten as the early spring snow
melts creat ice jams along waterways throughout the north.  Many historic
sites were flooded in the northwest (Oregon and Washington State), as well
as along the eastern seaboard (Maryland and Washington, DC). By late April
spring floods have been reported in Illinois and Missouri.

I have set up the following World Wide Web site to provide a listing of
Web resources relating to disaster mitigation of flood and storm damage to
older and historic buildings.

http://members.aol.com/johnleeke/private/pages/hhw-home.htm

We are just completing a study of flood and storm damage to historic
buildings in Alabama and Georgia. Feel free to send us questions on this
topic and we will do our best to respond. Two tips for flood response at
historic buildings:

Be sure to be present and to control emergency response cleanup crews who
may not be able to recognize and save historic building materials and
collections.

Begin drying out the building by natural ventilation as soon as possible,
but do not dry out the building too fast with heat or industrial
dehumidifiers. Use fans to increase air movement. Monitor the moisture
content of building materials with moisture meters as the building dries
out. Drying usually takes at least a few to several months. Slow drying
means less damage to historic building materials.



John Leeke, Preservation Consultant
26 Higgins St., Portland, ME 04103, USA
207 773-2306
Old-House Journal, Contributing Editor
AOL, HouseNet, Historic HomeWorks, Pundit, [log in to unmask]
CompuServe, Handyman, Old Houses, SYSOP, [log in to unmask]