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Flooding and Water Damage on the Lower Mississippi: Saving Art and Memorabilia: 8 Tips

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fema-flood-insurance-photo-low-resFlood waters are rising and water damage is eminent as you read this on March 11, 2010. The Mississippi is flooding a wide flood plain along most of the length but concentrated from Cedar Rapids to St. Louis according to the U.S. Department of the Interior/ U.S. Geological Survey http://la.water.usgs.gov/default.html

When you are confronted with water damage to your treasured family valuables consider calling for help. “I got a call recently from an office manager that had four inches of water in the office… piles of valuable office décor, framed items and company memorabilia had gotten wet. Timing was critical for getting the things dried out,” said Scott M. Haskins, author of How To Save your Stuff From A Disaster” and Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Expert, “in order to not let mold take over.”

Here are 3 very important Tips to follow:

  1. Getting the items away from the wetness!
  2. Drying out wet items means getting the air moving with fans and
  3. Do NOT turn up the heat! It will accelerate the mold growth.

“Flood relief community volunteer Matt Steward reported from another flood location, ““When we got there to help people, all we were asked to do is look for people’s memorabilia floating in the water.”

After everyone is safe and accounted for, the biggest reason people mourn after a disaster is for the lost memories, things that can’t be paid for by insurance: personal keepsakes and beloved memorabilia.

For those in the path of the storm, the horse is already out of the barn, referring to pre-damage preparation. As you read this, tens of thousands of Americans are cleaning up and searching for cherished items of family memories that have been damaged and seem ruined. The question — “What to do now?” — has an answer.

For a copy of “How To Save Your Stuff From A Disaster” click now, onhttp://saveyourstufffromadisaster.com/productssupplies/

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9 Responses to "Flooding and Water Damage on the Lower Mississippi: Saving Art and Memorabilia: 8 Tips"
  1. Thanks Scott. I’ve had a little time to go through your e-book. What are your plans for updating Chapter 3 to include items such as USB drives, external hard drives, etc. – items that most people work with today? Do you have an upcoming revised edition in the works? If so, when would the revised e-book be available?

    Thanks,
    Geoff

  2. Scott says:

    Good to hear from you Geoff,
    When I began nearing the end of my run of the 1st Edition, I was picked up by a NY publisher, Morgan James Publishing for a 2nd edition. As I started on it, I was quickly overwhelmed with requests to put out an office or corporate edition before redoing the 1st edition. So, I am in the process of finishing up the Office Edition which should be available in July 2010. Shortly thereafter, the office edition will undergo translation into a Spanish Edition.

    In the new future editions, I won’t rewrite Chapter 3 per se. But I am enlarging the Appendix on Making Copies in the 1st Edition you’re inquiring about and making it into a chapter of the the new editions. In this new chapter on Making Copies (Chapter 9 in the Office Edition) I will address electronic/magnetic media but the bottom line news about preserving that storage media is bad: its not archival. Even if it were archival, the software programs to open the documents changes so quickly that within 10 years you can’t open your files anyway. The world is awash with info on backing up electronic storage media and in recouping crashed drives. So, that task doesn’t really play into my expertise anyway.

  3. Mari Ramos says:

    Good advice on how to protect your valuables from disasters #floods #hurricane #quake #fire RT @best_artdoc on Twitter
    MariRamosCNN

  4. Sally Orlando says:

    I love these tips; short, simple, and effective. Taking the necessary precautions before and after a flood could save a person thousands of dollars.

  5. Rommel says:

    Winter storms can really cause a lot of water damage to your home and health. Quick action is really needed in this time. If you don’t have much knowledge to handle the damage it is recommended that you call for help from a professional because they have proper training and equipments to solve problems and deal with mold.

  6. Mike says:

    Being prepared before the flood comes is a much better step to save your valuables. The first things you do is to secure legal documents. Put them inside a plastic envelop that has a seal. Zip lock bags work. Water damage is dangerous and becomes more dangerous as mold starts to grow so get the air moving after the water is gone. Don’t heat up the air of you don’t want to accelerate the mold growth!

  7. Bastion Watson says:

    We had a flood recently and got water in our basement where we had things stored. Your tips helped. Thanks

  8. Milly Smithson says:

    Don’t heat up the air if you don’t want to accelerate the mold growth!

  9. I had no idea that turning up the heat to try the water would accelerate the mold growth. I had a pretty big flood happen last night in my basement, and I was going turn on the heat later today to help speed up the drying process. I’m really glad I found this before I did anything I regretted. Thanks for the help.

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