University of Hawaii's Hamilton Library Floods - Cleanup and salvage underway

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UH Calls In Specialists To Help Library Recovery

Flooding Cleanup Could Cost More Than $5 Million

POSTED: 3:48 pm HST November 5, 2004

UPDATED: 4:27 pm HST November 5, 2004

HONOLULU -- The University of Hawaii hired one of the largest cleanup companies

in the world to help with the flooding at its Manoa campus.

At least three planeloads of equipment are being flown into Oahu. The first is

set to arrive in Honolulu Friday night.

Constant rain Friday added to the tough situation.

Starting Saturday, teams will step up the cleanup and salvage effort. BMS

Catastrophe has helped in major cleanups around the country.

Hamilton Library suffered the worst damage. On Friday, librarians struggled to

salvage what they could now that mold and mildew has set in.

BMS CAT plans to bring in a fleet of dehumidifiers and coolers to prevent the

damage from spreading to the collections of books on the upper floors.

The company has hired some local contractors to help in the effort. Crews are

expected to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until the job is done.

" We are probably looking at 30 to 45 days in time to get the place cleaned up.

We are also looking at freeze-drying documents, wet paper film and microfilm

that might be affected and we will work with the university on securing those

pieces of property that need to be restored, " BMS CAT Vice President Tim Draney

said.

BMS CAT estimates the work to clean up and dry the four buildings damaged in the

flood will cost about $5 million. After that, UH will have to contract with a

company to renovate the buildings.

The administration doesn't have a handle yet on the losses of equipment and

books.

University administrators said its safety office has secured any hazardous

material at the biomedical and agriculture buildings.

The company will be looking at the best way to dispose of any biohazards as part

of its contract.

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Classes Resume At UH; Library Access To Be Limited

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The most pressing issue for the library is salvaging the collections that got

wet in the floods.

Work crews are still pumping water out of the basement and mold has set in on

the precious collections of rare books. Officials said whatever they cannot get

to in the next two days will be lost.

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Manoa Mops Up Weekend Floodwaters

University Library, Noelani Elementary School Heavily Damaged

POSTED: 6:31 pm HST November 1, 2004

UPDATED: 6:43 pm HST November 1, 2004

MANOA, Hawaii -- Officials at the University of Hawaii at Manoa said nearly

three dozen buildings were still without power Monday in the aftermath of

weekend flooding.

There will be no classes Tuesday and a decision has not yet been made then when

classes will resume.

Outside buildings, crews are piling up debris, looking for anything that can be

salvaged, and sorting through what was brand new computer equipment but is now

just muddy trash.

Inside the library, the destruction was widespread. Entire walls were ripped

away, ceilings were collapsed, and heavy furniture and equipment were tossed

around like it was nothing.

Rare, historic maps, documents, and photographs were buried in muddy water.

Librarians are working as fast as they can to try to save as much as they can.

Rare aerial photographs have been washed and are hanging to dry. Librarians are

also working to save rare Japanese maps that survived World War II.

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