State Archives Vault Flood

A contractor was repairing the roof at the State Archives in Juneau on August 17th when the temporary waterproofing system failed and water entered the records vault. Wet boxes, approximately 500 in all, were removed to various locations around town to be unpacked and dried.

By 10am, nearly all of the standing water on the floors had been removed, principally by vacuums. Dehumidifiers and fans operated in the affected areas. Some of the damaged boxes were removed to the Juneau Arts & Culture Center for air drying. Some of the boxes were frozen and the contents will be dried later.

The various types of recovery work are being performed by archives employees, employees from the state museum and state library, maintenance employees of the state facilities office, workers from CBC Contractors, and community volunteers. Professional conservators in Juneau for the Western Association for Art Conservation conference have assisted, as well.

Read about the flood in the Juneau Empire

LAM is grateful to all of the organizations that donated space and tables and to the many volunteers who donated their time to save these valuable, and irreplaceable, state records.

Flood water cascades out of records boxes as Chris Heib of Records Management pulls damaged documents from the stacks for conservation

Governor's correspondence from a damp box. Even recent records were not immune to damage

Water reached the lower vault, flooding map cases filled with some of the most valuable items in the State Archives. Conservators work to save the original blueprints of the Governor's Mansion

Franny Field and Jennifer McGlinchey work to save valuable maps in the lower vault

Volunteers pull documents out of soggy boxes to spread out on tables in a race against mold growth