This post is part of an ongoing series, “Time and Tide: Ten Years after Katrina.” Special thanks to Preston Everett, Archives and Records Services, for writing this post.
By the week of September 12, 2005, the MDAH Archives and Record Services Division received assistance from Ann Frellsen, staff member of the Preservation Office at Emory University, and Christine Wiseman, the Preservation Services Manager at Georgia Archives. They joined the Archives and Records Services Division assessment teams working at public libraries, county courthouses, city governments, museums, and historical societies on the Coast. The teams also made recommendations for cleaning, immediate preservation such as freezing or drying materials, and ways to protect employees from mold when handling materials.
Jackson County
Left to right: Christine Wiseman, Ann Frellsen, Jeff Rogers (MDAH), and Marian Wingo (EOC) at Ocean Springs City Hall.
Airing out filing cabinets at Moss Point Municipal Building. The building received two inches of flood water from the Escatawpa River. (Ann Frellsen)
Pascagoula Public Library’s first floor received 2.5 inches of flood water. The ground floor held the general collections and a law library approximately 70,000 volumes. (Ann Frellsen)
The Pascagoula City Hall building had 24 inches of water outside the building and 2–3.5 inches inside from seepage through walls and under doors.
Harrison County
Excerpt from the assessment report for Biloxi City Library: “It smells strongly of decay (not mold).”
(Ann Frellsen)
Biloxi City Library. (Ann Frellsen)
Grady Howell (MDAH) walks among debris at Beauvoir. This property had severe damage from flood waters estimated at 30 feet. The first floors of both the historic house and library were gutted by the storm surge. (Christine Wiseman)
Biloxi City Hall. (Ann Frellsen)
Excerpt from conservation report for Gulfport Public Library: The first floor was gutted and scrubbed clean by the storm surge. Some windows were blown out on the second floor. No one was there.
Hancock County
Ann Frellsen, Christine Wiseman, Forrest Galey (MDAH) and Pamela Cuevas at Hancock County Courthouse.
Hancock County records books drying on floor. (Ann Frellsen)
Bay St. Louis looking south on Court Street toward the beach, taken in front of the City Hall. (Ann Frellsen)
Ann Frellsen at Bay St. Louis City Hall. (Christine Wiseman)
Bay St. Louis City Hall received four feet of flood water. (Christine Wiseman)
Hancock County Historical Society. (Ann Frellsen)
The assessment teams wrote conservation reports and took photographs for each site. The reports included findings, salvaged materials, and recommendations to be used by the necessary staff.
