Several states in the Greater Midwest Region have been seriously affected by storms and flooding.

We have received reports from several regional medical and academic centers and hospitals. So far we have the following reports.

• University of Iowa, Iowa City, Hardin Library closed until June 23
  • http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/index.html

• Columbus Regional Hospital, Columbus, IN
  • The hospital has sustained a tremendous amount of damage to both the lower level and
    the first floor. The lower level completely flooded and the overflow left a foot of water on the first floor. The basement is essentially in ruins and the first floor will need extensive aesthetic repairs to include all of the drywall, which was warped at the bottom foot of each panel. I have not seen the physical hospital yet - only pictures.The timeline for repairs will be in the neighborhood of 3-4 months and first priority is to get our ED Dept. up and running for the community’s needs. We are fortunate that we are being paid as employees during this time period. But, we are being asked to assist in any way possible. Thus, I may be the first medical librarian to wear a hardhat on the job (I doubt it though).The general mood of the establishment was one of mixed humor and enthusiasm last Friday. One thing our CEO pointed out is that we might be able to use this as a positive experience to build something better than what we had before.I have not been in to work yet, nor have I seen the library. I’m sure it is fine and
    I pointed out in my last communication that the library was not damaged. I will try
    to offer an update sometime when I report back into work and have a greater idea of
    just where we stand. I am somewhat positive that I will be back into work this week
    at some point.

    As I still do not have email, I will copy my point of contact information below.

    Chris Kiess
    Information & Knowledge Services
    Columbus Regional Hospital

• Winnebago Mental Health Institute, Winnebago, WI
  • All generators went out
  • A transformer was knocked out
  • Emergency generator is running the kitchen and pharmacy
  • They are closed at least until another transformer can be shipped (possibly Wednesday) - but they are also expecting heavy rains Thursday and Friday this week
  • They received 6.5″ of rain last Thursday and Lake Winnebago has not even crested yet

• Clark Family Health Science Library, Mercy Medical Center - Affinity Health System, Oshkosh, WI
  • We’re okay in Oshkosh, WI. Flood waters came close to our buildings,but not quite in … We’re still open for business.You can see some of the pictures of the receding waters here:
    http://picasaweb.google.com/mmclibrary/MMCFlood2008Here are some pics from 2004, to give you a better idea :
    http://picasaweb.google.com/mmclibrary/Flood2004“

• Watts Medical Library, Mercy Medical Center, Cedar Rapids, IA, from Randi Thon,
  Library Director:
  • Thank your for all the messages & offers of assistance. I’m in the library today & am happy (relieved) to report that we are dry & semi-operational. The library is storing a mish mash of equipment from other areas & busy with staff from other departments setting-up shop at the computers. Our president & administrative staff are very organized & we have a lot of dedicated hardworking staff that are busy trying to get the hospital fully operational by June 29th. Our Radiation Center re-opened yesterday & we are said to see more departments in operation within a week.

*****For more information: http://nnlm.gov/ep/

To report emergencies and or closings in your area, please call 1-800-DEV-ROKS (NN/LM Emergency Assistance Number) whenever disaster strikes and your local resources/plans are unable to keep your core services available. By pressing one for your Regional Medical Library, you will be immediately connected to the GMR.

Comments are enabled on this post, please add your library and tell us how you are faring. In addition, comments or updates may be sent to GMRLIST, our listserv: GMRLIST at uic.edu.

–GMR Staff

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 9:47 am and is filed under Emergency Preparedness, From the GMR, General, News from the Region. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.