I'm sure that someone will tell you that the Archives didn't really flood. Someone else will tell you that the water reached the eaves of the building and that all is a total loss. An army of volunteers and myself have spent the last few days cleaning and going through both the main building and the storage shed. I have examined the damage with my own eyes. From the "horse's mouth" I give you the "Official Flood Report" --
The most extensive flooding occurred in the storage shed. At it's highest point there was 12 inches of water in that building. Some clothing, books, and other items that were being stored for our upcoming rummage sale were damaged and we are removing those items.
In the main building, carpet in the southernmost room got heavily soaked and some water came in under the back door. A few papers got wet; however, no items of historic value or that were a part of our archival collection were damaged. We will have to remove the wet carpet but we were eventually going to do that anyway as we continue renovations on the building. None of the renovation work was damaged. We are making sure to clean and air things out really well to prevent moisture or mold problems from occuring. It could have been very bad. Thankfully it wasn't.
This horse is no expert on flooding but it appears to have been a combination of unusually heavy rainfall, some drainage issues which we were already in the process of addressing (and unfortunately hadn't gotten completed when it rained) and a large stump the size of a small SUV that just happened to get stuck in the culvert causing the water in the creek to back up into a short-lived "Crown Lake".
Thanks to all of the volunteers who have came out to help with the flood cleanup and with the ongoing renovations. When we are finished, the Archives is going to be the talk of the town. Become a part of this worthwhile project and volunteer to help today!