[Anchasl-l] HERITAGE EMERGENCY TASK FORCE ASSESSES POST-KATRINA AID

[Robert James]

HERITAGE EMERGENCY TASK FORCE ASSESSES POST-KATRINA AID

Help will be on the way to save the rich history and culture of New 
Orleans and the Gulf Coast from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  But 
first, the situation must be stabilized and more information must be 
gathered.  That was the conclusion of a conference call on Thursday, 
September 1, that included 35 representatives of 21 different federal 
agencies and national organizations.  The call was organized by the 
Heritage Emergency National Task Force, a national coalition co-sponsored 
by FEMA and Heritage Preservation.

John Ketchum, FEMA's historic preservation officer, said that the 
challenges in New Orleans will require an unprecedented effort in 
community preservation and restoration.  Since no one can enter the 
affected areas at present, Ketchum urged cultural organizations to use 
this time to coordinate the delivery of expertise and resources. 

Various organizations are posting reports on their Web sites from their 
members in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  Since many means of 
communication are down, gathering accurate information is a challenge. The 
effort will continue through the weeks ahead.  Anyone with confirmed 
information about the status of cultural institutions and historic sites 
in the damaged areas may contact taskforce at heritagepreservation.org.

Highly skilled conservators and collections professionals are eager to go 
to affected areas to help rescue precious collections in flooded and 
damaged museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies.  Pam West, 
director of the National Park Service's Museum Resource Center, will 
likely be one of the first to arrive.  Her team's first priority will be 
for National Park Service sites will be damage assessment.  She will keep 
the Heritage Emergency National Task Force apprised of her work and 
observations. 

Cultural institutions throughout the affected areas will want to see Before and After Disasters: Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions, a new guide to disaster assistance.  It is available on-line as a PDF at 
www.heritagepreservation.org/PDFs/Disaster.pdf.  A print version will be available later in September.  It was developed 
by Heritage Preservation in partnership with FEMA and the National 
Endowment for the Arts. 

Reports about broad-based efforts to help preserve cultural and historic 
resources damaged by Hurricane Katrina and practical information on 
emergency response will be maintained at www.heritageemergency.org, along with links to related Web sites.  Task Force members will continue 
to confer on a regular basis throughout the crisis.


Heritage Preservation 
(202)233-0800
taskforce at heritagepreservation.org



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