Here’s an update on the library at M.D. Anderson from Kathy Hoffman, library director:

News from M. D. Anderson Research Medical Library

Most of the Houston area continues to have no power. Reports indicate about 97% of the city is still without power. Fortunately, the Medical Center has power and didn’t lose it at any time during the storm. I am sending this from the library, as I don’t have power or internet access from home. I am onsite at the library doing recovery work.

Water Damage:

We sustained several serious leaks in the library from the storm. We had leaks in all the usual places and some new ones. The new ones included window sills all around the library, but the most serious were along the south side of the building. Fortunately we had cleared the windows sills and desk areas near them in all of the offices in preparation for the storm so none of staff had damage to their papers or other materials on their desks.

We also had major water enter the library from the terrace near the information desk. There also appears that there may have been leaks from the ceiling above the Information Desk but I didn’t observe any damage to the desk or its contents. Facilities have been onsite to replace ceiling tiles and provide big fans to dry the area.

The most damaging leak occurred over a section of the bound journals stacks in a new area, near the Journal of Immunology. Approximately 125 bound journals were affected. In triaging the volumes, I decided not to salvage anything that is now available online. The final number of volumes that will need to be withdrawn, and how many can be saved is yet to be determined. I am using the conference room to stage the recovery work.

Return to Work Plan:

Sunday (today): M. D. Anderson remains closed. Only authorized employees are allowed in. Transition from Ride Out Team to Recovery Teams is happening today.

Monday: M. D. Anderson will remain closed as the Recovery Team continue their work. Employees in Animal Care return to work on Monday. The Library remains closed.

Tuesday: M. D. Anderson will be open for patient care activities. Employees involved in patient care will return to work. The Library remains closed.

Wednesday: Anderson plans to return to normal operations and ALL employees are expected to return to work. The Library will reopen on Wednesday and expects to be fully operational.

City Curfew:

The city has announced a curfew effective today, through Saturday, Sept. 20, from 9pm to 6am. However, according to Houston Catastrophic Medical Operations Center, M. D. Anderson employees need only show their ID Badges if they are stopped on their way to work during the hours of the curfew. This will affect some of our staff who work the early and late shifts.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 10:01 am and is filed under Hurricanes. 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.