Dear listers:

Please allow me to comment on the post I sent earlier regarding today's flooding at our museum in Florida.

This posting was not intended to take away from the tragedy in New York, DC, and elsewhere, and I am sorry if my post was interpreted that way... it is just another reminder for museums to always be prepared.  I, as are most Americans, am keeping one eye on the TV while trying to return to "business as usual," as we have been repeatedly urged to do.  I am truly sorry to have offended or upset anyone.  

I reiterate my message:  all museums, big and small, must be prepared for any number of disasters.  We were fortunate to have gotten our artifacts to safety today, and that no one who stood waist-deep in the rapidly moving water was injured.  In a situation like ours, an advance plan and quick action helped keep a bad situation from growing worse.  We should be able to reopen in two weeks.  We were lucky -- in the larger scheme of things, QUITE lucky.

My apologies if this was covered in another post over the last few days, but is the museum community, through a larger organization such as AAM, taking a collection to help the Museums affected in New York?  If not, how might we go about doing this?  Imagine what $5 from even half the museums in the US could do.

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