{"id":1267,"date":"2019-09-05T17:43:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T17:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/costepma\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2020-07-15T20:11:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T20:11:33","slug":"disaster-diaries-a-collections-emergency-and-recovery-recap-from-the-massachusetts-archives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/costepma\/index.php\/2019\/09\/05\/disaster-diaries-a-collections-emergency-and-recovery-recap-from-the-massachusetts-archives\/","title":{"rendered":"Disaster Diaries: A Collections Emergency and Recovery recap from the Massachusetts Archives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the first post in the COSTEP MA blog series Disaster Diaries. Disaster Diaries will share stories from institutions across Massachusetts that have recently experienced a collections emergency or disaster. To contribute a post, email costepma@gmail.com<\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cThunderstorms wreak havoc across Massachusetts, microburst halts Logan flights\u201d\n
Boston Herald, July 31, 2019\n

\n\u201cThousands without power as strong thunderstorms roll through\u201d\n
Boston Globe, July 31, 2019\n

\n\u201cBay State rocked by lightning, powerful wind, torrential rain as storms rumble through\u201d\n
Channel 7 News Boston, July 31, 2019<\/br>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As described in the headlines above, a powerful\nstorm system swept through Greater Boston on July 31, 2019. The string of\nthunderstorms, which affected the entire state, developed into a microburst\nover Columbia Point, the peninsula where the Massachusetts Archives, as well as\nUMass Boston, the JFK Presidential Library and Museum, and the Edward M.\nKennedy Institute for the Senate, are all located. At around 3:30 that\nafternoon staff watched as torrential rain and hail buffeted the archives\nfacility and neighboring institutions. By 4:00, the Archives had experienced\nits worst emergency to date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the storm a lightning bolt struck the\ncopper flashing on the roof of the building, causing the roof\u2019s rubber membrane\nto distort and open a hole for a torrent of water to rush into the vaults beneath.\nThe deluge, which lasted for maybe 10-15 minutes before the burst passed over\nthe area, cascaded through all four vault levels in the building. What follows\nis a short account of how Archives staff responded to the downpour and\nsuccessfully recovered hundreds of boxes and individual records during this\nextreme weather event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The blast radius from the lightning strike on the roof of the Massachusetts Archives facility. At top left, distortions in the roof’s membrane and scorching on the stones from the heat of the strike are visible.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Response<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alerted to the fact that water was pouring into\nthe 4th<\/sup> floor vault, archives staff split up and checked all of the\nremaining vaults to assess how far the water had traveled while a few stayed\nbehind to start moving records out of the way of the leak on the 4th<\/sup>\nfloor. When it quickly became clear that the water had penetrated all the way\nto the 1st<\/sup> floor, teams of 2 to 3 people immediately began moving\nrecords away from the affected zones in each vault. Staff from other divisions\nin the building and the Archives interns were quickly mobilized and assisted in\nthe response. The facilities and securities teams also leapt into action by\nretrieving large plastic bins to catch the flow of water in each vault and by\nclearing the standing water on the vault floors using the building\u2019s emergency\nwet vacuums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the downpour of water had spread to entire\naisles in the vaults, there wasn\u2019t enough space in the immediate vicinity to\nlay out all of the wet or damp materials away from the water. Staff determined\nthat moving the wet and damp materials to another leak-free vault with\ncontrolled temperature and relative humidity and enough space to set up rows of\ntables would be the best course of action. As some teams were moving records\nout of the water zones, other teams began shuttling records to this designated\ntriage zone. The facilities and securities teams began setting up fans in all\nzones to circulate air over the affected materials. One staff member began\nremoving records from wet boxes and laying them out on the tables in front of\nthe circulating air, placing the wet boxes underneath the tables as an\nindicator of which records were housed together and how new enclosures should\nbe labeled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it was safe to assess the damage on the roof,\nthe facilities team, Executive Director, and Curator worked together to figure\nout the source of the water incursion and temporarily patch the roof until a\nprofessional could be called to the scene. Over the next 2 hours, everyone\njoined forces to move records away from the leaks into the triage vault, assess\nrecords for dampness, remove records from sopping enclosures, place records in\nfront of circulating air to dry overnight, and dry the aisles in the affected\nvaults. At around 6:30pm, once the leak had been stopped, the roof temporarily\npatched, the affected vaults dried and cleared of water, large bins placed to\ncatch any residual drips, and the records laid out to dry in the triage vault,\nstaff retrieved tarps and plastic sheeting from the Archives\u2019 emergency supply,\ncovered the adjacent aisles in all four vaults, and called it a night. The\nExecutive Director asked staff to show up early the next day and dress down to\nprep for recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a breakdown of the supplies used during\nresponse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n