This summer, NCPTT, the Tulane School of Architecture, the Preservation Trades Network, and Save Our Cemeteries hosted training on treatments for above ground cemeteries damaged during Hurricane Katrina.

Topics included masonry applications, preservation technology, limewash, appropriate treatments for tombs, and a history of the cemeteries of New Orleans. This video was produced by Tulane University.

Publications
AIC Disaster Response and Recovery – The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works has information on wet recovery of family heirlooms, salvaging water-damaged textiles, and saving photographs after a flood.
An Evaluation of Supercritical Drying and PEG/Freeze Drying of Waterlogged Archaeological Wood (PDF, 9.1MB).
Comparing Mass Drying and Sterilization Protocols [...]

A Litany of Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Things that Can Happen After the Disaster.
Randy Silverman.

ATC-45 Field Manual: Safety Evaluation of Buildings after Wind Storms and Floods.
Applied Technology
Council (ATC).
The following publications are available for download on the ATC web site:

ATC-45 Rapid Evaluation Safety Assessment Form

ATC-45 Detailed Evaluation Safety Assessment Form

ATC-45 UNSAFE Posting Placard (print [...]

Maps and Lists

Hurricane Katrina and its massive destruction drew attention to the commonplace markers on the landscape that create sense of place for a community.

The experience in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita underscored the limitations in current approaches for documenting and assessing heritage resources in a postdisaster context.

With the historic preservation expertise of the NCPTT and the proximity of the Center to the Gulf Coast, the Center was involved in the cultural resource response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

David Morgan of NCPTT was the lead author of a peer-reviewed paper with Nancy I.M. Morgan (Cane River National Heritage Area) and Brenda Barrett (NPS) that appeared in the December issue of American Anthropologist.

NCPTT sponsored the colloquium “Wind, Flood and Heritage Recovery” as part of the APTI pre-conference activities.

NCPTT recently provided a daylong consultation with David Patterson and Brett Smith of Sipapu Cemetery Services.

NCPTT’s Architecture and Engineering program has entered a cooperative agreement with the New Jersey Institute of Technology to implement a teacher and administrator training to show how to replicate the High School for the Preservation Arts in Brooklyn.

Every year, hundreds of museums, libraries, archives and historic sites across the country experience emergencies large and small. In most cases, staff and volunteers are unprepared.

NCPTT

Detailed Building and Site Condition Assessment. The Detailed Building and
Site Assessment is a three-page form that may be used to make a more intensive
survey of damaged properties after natural or manmade disasters. The form
requires some knowledge of architectural history and survey techniques in order
to produce the most accurate results. It is intended for use [...]

Andy Ferrell once again represented NCPTT at Saving Places 2006, the annual conference of Colorado Preservation, Inc.

NCPTT worked in conjunction with the American Institute for Conservation to produce the workshop series, “After the Storm: Recovery of Wet Collections,” which was held in March.

Within days of Katrina, NCPTT was helping FEMA with its damage survey.
At FEMA’s request, the Center took the lead to produce a Rapid Building and
Site Condition Assessment tool and database that FEMA could use to evaluate
flood-damaged historic buildings in New Orleans and surrounding parishes.
Rapid Cemetery Condition Assessment and Detailed Building and Site Condition
Assessment forms and [...]

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated major portions of the Gulf Coast.

Before going further, let me add my own heartfelt sympathy for the victims of the storms that have so recently swept through the South. Above all, the personal tragedies of our fellow citizens require our support and our understanding.