Memorandum

TO: Arts Organizations
FROM: Suzette Surkamer, Executive Director
DATE: June 22, 2006
RE: Disaster Preparedness Plan

As June 1 arrived, marking the start of the hurricane season, and was followed closely by Tropical Storm Alberto, I wanted to write and encourage you to develop a disaster preparedness plan if you currently are without a plan.

Many of you have been involved in the past year with relief efforts for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And of course, many of us still remember vividly what it took to recover from Hurricane Hugo. I hope we have learned from the past and are doing everything we can to be prepared in case a major storm hits South Carolina .

Have you thought about?

• Are pieces of artwork or sets and costumes stored in a secure place that is well above potential flood levels?


• Are music libraries or other print materials secure, or would they need to be evacuated?


• How will you secure financial records, databases, etc?


• Has a cell phone number been shared with all staff and prime constituents (students, artists, etc.) so that there is one central point of contact for your organization during an emergency?

The above are just a few items to consider. The most important thing is to plan in advance – have a DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLAN appropriate for your organization. We at the Arts Commission are not experts in this field, but if you need assistance in developing a plan, please contact Lisa Jackson at ljackson@arts.state.sc.us or 803-734-8687, and she will try to guide you to resources where you can find answers to your questions. I am attaching a list of websites that are very informative; while some of the material is not specific to the arts, it is still very useful, especially if you are in the initial stage of developing a plan.

South Carolina is a state with wonderful art, artists, and arts organizations. Let's make sure we continue to have the benefit of these treasures in the future.

Websites

The National Endowment for the Arts has a downloadable publication (at home page click on "publications"), Before and After Disasters: Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions (PDF). This publication has an excellent resource list.

The Heritage Preservation has a tremendous amount of information and a resource list related to emergency preparedness and planning. On the home page click "Heritage Emergency National Task Force."

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has a list of resources as well as several excellent technical leaflets which focus on several aspects of disaster response and recovery, including Worksheet for Outlining a Disaster Plan.

The California Preservation Program has a Generic Disaster Plan Workbook that assists institutions in writing their own disaster plan, and it can be modified using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect.