Responding to Floods

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Introduction

Remediation or removal of a few feet of mildewed plaster and a good clean-up may be all that is needed to prepare this flood-damaged historic house for restoration and repair.

Credit: Jennifer Farwell

Common and devastating, floods pose unique challenges to communities and property owners.  This document is designed to help those groups bounce back from flooding events and help prepare themselves for future occurrences.

The most critical resources relating to this topic are marked below with a check. 

Critical Organizations

• Federal Emergency Management Agency

Resources

• Disaster Planning for Florida's Historic Resources (1000 Friends of Florida/Florida SHPO)
• Treatment of Flood-Damaged Older and Historic Buildings (National Trust For Historic Preservation) is a seminal 15-page guide on treating water damaged buildings.
• Coping With Water Damage(Heritage Preservation) is an informative video on how to re-enter flooded buildings and deal with damaged contents and collections. 
• Mold Removal Guidelines For Your Flooded Home(LSU Ag Center)
• How to Save Your Adobe Home in the Event of a Flood Disaster(Cornerstones)
• Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Flood Recovery And Reinvestment Plan(March 3, 2009).  Cedar Rapids produced this plan after the historic 2008 floods that damaged much of the city.
• Learning from Disaster: Response and Reaction to Crisis (National Trust for Historic Preservation; PDF of Powerpoint and accompanying script) is a presentation given by National Trust Midwest Program Office Jennifer Sandy at the Iowa Disaster Recovery Conference, December 9-10, 2008, in Coralville, Iowa.  It includes back story on the flood, key lessons learned, and general advice. 
• Brief Guide to Understanding Repairs to Historic Homes Damaged By Hurricane Katrina and Other Related Floods(Preservation Trades Network) provides information on caring for masonry foundations and roofing, enhancing ventilation, all while keeping preservation in mind.
• Information For Owners of Damaged Buildings Following A National Disaster(North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office [SHPO]).  A series of fact sheets on dealing with the immediate and longer-term work associated with caring for a building after a disaster.
• The Mississippi Renewal Forum(Congress for the New Urbanism) offers information on the post-flood strategies of a group of Mississippi towns, including economic strategies, a retail study, and transportation proposal.
• After The Flood: Rebuilding Communities Through Historic Preservation, a video produced by Georgia Public Broadcasting, talks about the state response mechanisms that acted to save historic resources after the historic 1996 floods in south Georgia.
• Saving Your Flood Damaged Older & Historic Buildings: A Guide for Property Owners Returning to New Orleans (NTHP, October 2005).
• Repairing Your Flooded Home (American Red Cross/FEMA, 1992)

For Further Reading

• Rebuilding Historic Communities Through Historic Preservation(Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division [SHPO]) is a written document detailing lessons learned from the 1996 floods in south Georgia. 
• Hurricane Hugo and Historic Charleston: Damage Recordation and Retrieval (American Society for Testing and Materials, 1996; authored by current NTHP Southwest Regional Office Director Jonathan Poston)

Case Study

• Wapsipinicon Mill in Independence, Iowa will be Restored and Able to Withstand Future Floods (PreservationNation Blog)