Surviving Sandy: Recovering Collections After a Natural Disaster

Background

Increasingly, libraries and archives are experiencing greater catastrophic emergencies as a result of natural disasters. According to hurricane experts, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico have begun to spin off more frequent and destructive hurricanes than in previous decades, with the number rising in 1995, and increasing every year thereafter (New York City Office of Emergency Management, 2014). In 2012, Superstorm Sandy produced record high storm surges, and brought gale force winds up to eighty-five miles per hour (Sharp, 2012). The storm caused power outages in fifteen states, and cut electricity to more than eight million homes for weeks. The storm also flooded essential transportation tunnels and completely halted public transportation in multiple states for days. It also damaged oil refineries, and caused widespread gas shortages in New York and New Jersey. The fuel shortages resulted in gas rationing and long lines of cars waiting for gas unseen since the 1970s (Hu, 2012).