Preparation for Local Organizations and Main Streets
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Introduction
Because of the unique and flexible role that local preservation organizations and Main Streets play in their communities, they are poised to provide valuable help to businesses, homeowners, building owners, and other impacted groups. Over the years, National Trust Main Street has published a variety of articles that can help these organizations as they prepare for and respond to natural disasters. This document is designed to help local preservation organizations and Main Street organizations prepare for disasters.
The most critical resources for this topic are marked below with a check.
Critical Organizations
- Coping With Disaster (Main Street News, No. 190, October 2002). FREE from Main Street News, an article detailing how small businesses can prepare for and recover from natural disasters.
- Averting Disaster: Asset Protection for Main Street Business (Main Street News, No. 235, December 2006. Main Street members-only content.)
- Insurance 101: Looking Ahead (Main Street News, No. 223, November 2005. Main Street members-only content.)
- Keeping Post-Disaster Main Street Going: You may be down, but not out (Main Street News, No. 222, October 2005. Main Street members-only content.)
- Reaching Out: Main Street Network Mobilizes to Assist Katrina Victims (Main Street News, No. 222, October 2005. Main Street members-only content.)
- Cover Me (Main Street News, No. 1990, August 2003. Main Street members-only content.)
- Security at Main Street Special Events (Main Street News, No. 181, November 2001. Main Street members-only content.)
Other Resources
Web Resources
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Liability Insurance Basics for Nonprofits (Forum News, November 2009, Vol. 16, No. 3; members-only content)
Trinity United Methodist Church of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The church never reopened after the 2008 floods, and has since been demolished.
Credit: Jennifer Sandy, National Trust for Historic Preservation - Getting The Right Insurance For Your Historic Building (Forum News, March/April 2009, Volume XV, No. 4). FREE from Forum News, the original article.
- Preparing to Preserve: An Action Plan to Integrate Historic Preservation into Tribal, State, and Local Emergency Management Plans
- Disaster Planning for Florida's Historic Resources
- Building An Emergency Plan: A Guide for Museums and Other Cultural Institutions (Getty Conservation Institute). A guide to planning geared specifically to cultural institutions rather than physical built fabric. Features case studies and information for specific teams within an organization.
- State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) List, found at the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers' website.
- Guidelines for Conducting Cultural Resource Survey in Virginia. Though written address protocol in Virginia specifically, this document provides excellent guidance on why and how to conduct an in-depth architectural survey.
- Water-Resistant Design and Construction: An Illustrated Guide to Preventing Water Intrusion, Condensation, and Mold (McGraw Hill 2007, 286 pages). An in-depth guide to preparing your home to withstand water intrusion threats from floods, hurricanes, and severe storms.
- Disaster Mitigation for Historic Structures: Protection Strategies (Florida SHPO/1000 Friends of Florida). A guide to help building owners understand which protection and mitigation strategies maybe appropriate for their property based on its specific characteristics.
- Fire Safety in Historic Buildings (National Trust for Historic Preservation)
- Fire Safety Retrofitting (General Services Administration)
- Controlling Disaster: Earthquake-Hazard Reduction for Historic Resources (National Trust for Historic Preservation)
- 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.
- Rebuilding Historic Communities Through Historic Preservation (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division [SHPO])
- 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.
- 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.
Print Resources
- Preserving History from Fire: Bridging the Gap Between Safety Codes and Historic Buildings (Old House Journal, November/December 2000). Addresses fire code issues for older buildings.
- Up In Smoke (Preservation Magazine, November/December 2002). Discusses publications useful for developing fire safety code for historic buildings; discusses performance-based building codes—a policy tool that can be used to limit destruction of historic fabric while improving fire safety; discusses other ways to limit the threat of fire in historic structures.
Financial Resources for Planning & Response
- FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program. This program provides funds to states, territories, Indian tribal governments, communities, and universities for hazard mitigation planning and the implementation of mitigation projects prior to a disaster event.
- FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program. This program is designed to provide assistance to State, Tribal and local governments, and certain types of Private Nonprofit organizations so that communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies declared by the President.
- Small Business Administration (SBA) Loans. SBA offers several different types of loans designed to keep businesses in operation after disasters and to rebuild or replace uninsured or underinsured disaster damages.
- Before and After Disasters: Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions (FEMA). This guide is an updated and expanded version of Resources for Recovery: Post-Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions, first developed in 1992 by Heritage Preservation and then revised in 2000. Before and After Disasters includes summary descriptions and contact information for 15 Federal grant and loan programs (pdf).
- Community Development Block Grant Program (HUD) is a flexible grant program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs, which could include disaster planning.
- National Trust For Historic Preservation Grant Funds. The National Trust provides two types of assistance to nonprofit organizations and public agencies: 1) matching grants from $500 to $5,000 for preservation planning and educational efforts, and 2) intervention funds for preservation emergencies. Visit the Grant Funds website to learn more about the availability of funds and how to apply for assistance.
- The President's Advisory Council On Historic Preservation: Federal Financial Assistance for Historic Preservation Projects—Disaster Response. A list of list of Federal disaster relief programs focused on providing financial assistance for structural rehabilitation after a disaster or supporting proactive efforts to reduce or prevent future potential damage.
- Navigating FEMA and SBA Disaster Aid (Heritage Preservation). A brief guide to understanding what is available and to whom.
- www.floodsmart.gov, the official website of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
- Unreinforced Masonry Building Fact Sheet (Northern California Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute).
- Bricks, Mortar, and Earthquakes; Historic Preservation vs. Earthquake Safety (APT Bulletin, vol. 21, Nos. 3/4, pgs. 30-43, 1989)
