On Friday, November 15th, I traveled to the McKimmon Center at N.C. State University for a presentation and conference. the conference theme was When the Unthinkable Happens! Disaster Preparedness for Cultural Heritage Organizations.
There was a vast array of presenters from all kinds of institutions covering many types of disasters:
-State Historic Sites
-Lyrasis
-N.C. Emergency Management
-Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University
-Duke University Medical Center Archives
-Office of State Archaeology
-Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center
-Old Baldy Lighthouse & Smith Island Museum
-National Heritage Responders, Foundation for Advancement in Conservation
-Western Regional Archives
My presentation covered our water disasters in the Wilson Wing in May of 1995, and at our early Off Site Storage facility when a water main broke in 2004.
The presenters from along the NC coast really got my attention. Increased hurricane activity has stretched and stressed those along our coast. Not only that, but it seems flooding is becoming common.
Some barrier islands, Smith Island, home of Old Baldy Lighthouse and Harkers Island were mentioned, may have to permanently evacuate in the not too distant future. This has already been done on Portsmouth Island abandoned in 1971 and now operated by the National Park Service. Rising sea levels could potentially make these areas uninhabitable.
Disasters, as the word implies, are often unforeseen events. We can plan for a hurricane that is moving into our area, but what happens if that hurricane stalls in our area and does not keep moving? Hurricane Dorian essentially depopulated Abaco island in the Bahamas. The Abaco residents were used to hurricane season every year, but the intensity of Dorian was unprecedented (Cat 5, 183 mph winds).
The conference was great and it was a pleasure to see colleagues from across North Carolina and compare notes.
5 Comments on ‘North Carolina Preservation Consortium Conference’
Wow, never knew about Portsmouth Island! Increased disasters are inevitable with the changing climate around us – thank you for staying informed and sharing your experiences, Craig!
Craig, I’d love to hear about your presentations sometime – it’s an era of ZSR history I’m unaware of!
Craig, I enjoy reading your posts because I’m always happy about you sharing your expertise the way you do. This one was a bonus for getting some NC history — I didn’t know about Portsmouth Island either. I recently learned that Kinston relocated a bunch of homes after flooding (https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/training/kinston-flood-risk.html).
Your workshops and presentations have helped save many items that, otherwise, might have been discarded. I’m sure many libraries and professionals thank you for your willingness to share.
I also didn’t know about Portsmouth Island–neat! Like Amanda, I’d be curious to know more about the 1995 and 2004 ZSR disasters.