Greetings listers!

It was a museum's nightmare come true today in Punta Gorda, Florida.  After
the bulk of tropical storm Gabrielle passed, our small, five-gallery museum
flooded this morning.  We are situated about a football field's length from
Charlotte Harbor, with only a large municipal parking lot between us and the
sea wall.  The water came in so fast, that we were thigh-deep outside in
water by the time we got all our sandbags in place.  Luckily, we had prepared
three times in the last three years for hurricane scares, so we were quick to
action in raising large artifacts off the floor, removing items from low
shelves and files from bottom cabinets, and unplugging power strips from
outlets.  I was very proud of how cool we, as a staff, remained, in part
because we knew we had a plan.

The moral of the story is:  if you don't have a natural disaster plan for
yourself and your entire staff, develop one NOW.  If you do have one, REVIEW
IT periodically with your staffs.  It really does make a difference in your
response time.  And if possible, have a contingency fund available to make up
for lost admission revenue.

I guess some people will do anything to get new carpeting!

Lori Tomlinson
Executive Director
Florida Adventure Museum
Punta Gorda, Fla. USA
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