There is disaster planning and there is reality—the Cayman Islands National Archive (CINA) experience with Hurricane Ivan 1

[1] This article is based on the presentation given by Roger Craig (Director), Tamara Selzer (Archivist) and Kim Seymour (Conservator), CINA, at the Annual Conference of the Society of Archivists, 2005.

Abstract

Disaster preparedness is a necessary undertaking by any entity. Is it possible however to plan for every circumstance? For more than ten years the Cayman Islands National Archive (CINA) had annually implemented a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan and, as a National Hurricane Committee sub-committee, had instigated and monitored a departmental disaster control programme for approximately 70 government departments. This article, based on a presentation to SOA conference in 2005, seeks to highlight the experience of the Cayman Islands National Archive as it faced a massive recovery effort after the devastation of a small island nation by a category five hurricane in 2004. The Archive was faced with the reality of dealing with water damaged government records when 83% of the population, including CINA staff were directly affected by the disaster due to loss of homes and vehicles, loss of potable water and electricity, loss of employment, and with only limited food supplies.

Notes

[1] This article is based on the presentation given by Roger Craig (Director), Tamara Selzer (Archivist) and Kim Seymour (Conservator), CINA, at the Annual Conference of the Society of Archivists, 2005.

[2] ECLAC, The Impact of Hurricane Ivan in the Cayman Islands, 10.

[3] Ibid., 4.

[4] Ibid., 11.

[5] Ibid., 64.

[6] Ibid., 46.

[7] Ibid., 11.

[8] Routledge, ‘Damage to Government Records due to Hurricane Ivan.’