How to Save What’s Priceless When Disaster Strikes
Your careful planning before and your response after a fire or flood can help protect irreplaceable photos and heirlooms
This story was originally published Aug. 22, 2018
In the frenzied 20 minutes between the moment Shelby Lord asked her mother, Gina Lord, if she smelled something burning and the moment they and their family saw their house for the last time, Shelby thought to take pictures.
Shelby’s father, Ken Lord, and grandfather had dedicated 20 years to building and expanding the two-story, white columned home from the ground up, and as California wildfires raged that October night in 2017, Shelby wanted to capture every detail. Shelby; Gina; Ken; Shelby’s boyfriend, Ryan; and their three cats and one dog managed to escape, packed into their cars with the pets’ crates, a few boxes of belongings and those dozens of shots. Everything else was lost.
In the frenzied 20 minutes between the moment Shelby Lord asked her mother, Gina Lord, if she smelled something burning and the moment they and their family saw their house for the last time, Shelby thought to take pictures.
Shelby’s father, Ken Lord, and grandfather had dedicated 20 years to building and expanding the two-story, white columned home from the ground up, and as California wildfires raged that October night in 2017, Shelby wanted to capture every detail. Shelby; Gina; Ken; Shelby’s boyfriend, Ryan; and their three cats and one dog managed to escape, packed into their cars with the pets’ crates, a few boxes of belongings and those dozens of shots. Everything else was lost.
An old photo of the Lord family home that Gina Lord was able to save
The house and their furnishings, Gina says, was “only stuff,” and almost a year later, the Lords say they’re just grateful to be alive and in the early stages of rebuilding. But knowing that her daughter Shelby and older daughter Taylor will never be able to wear the wedding gown she had been saving in a bedroom chest still hurts. Old love letters from husband Ken, boxes full of yearbooks and the outfits her daughters wore home from the hospital as babies are gone.
“It’s so raw because there’s no way I can ever get that back,” Gina says. “It’s a lifetime of everything we’ve done together. That’s what’s so hard to this day. I wish I had had more time to take some of those items that can’t be replaced with money or time.”
The house and their furnishings, Gina says, was “only stuff,” and almost a year later, the Lords say they’re just grateful to be alive and in the early stages of rebuilding. But knowing that her daughter Shelby and older daughter Taylor will never be able to wear the wedding gown she had been saving in a bedroom chest still hurts. Old love letters from husband Ken, boxes full of yearbooks and the outfits her daughters wore home from the hospital as babies are gone.
“It’s so raw because there’s no way I can ever get that back,” Gina says. “It’s a lifetime of everything we’ve done together. That’s what’s so hard to this day. I wish I had had more time to take some of those items that can’t be replaced with money or time.”
The Smithsonian’s Rebecca Kennedy removes moisture from a violin case damaged by flooding in Louisiana in 2016. Photo by Nora Lockshin, Smithsonian Institution
It’s a refrain Lori Foley says she hears every time these kinds of disasters wreak havoc. Though Foley’s work as an administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Smithsonian Institution’s joint Heritage Emergency National Task Force initially aimed to help museums and other cultural institutions salvage disaster-damaged artifacts, in recent years the group has widened its mission to address individuals’ meaningful heirlooms as well.
It’s a refrain Lori Foley says she hears every time these kinds of disasters wreak havoc. Though Foley’s work as an administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Smithsonian Institution’s joint Heritage Emergency National Task Force initially aimed to help museums and other cultural institutions salvage disaster-damaged artifacts, in recent years the group has widened its mission to address individuals’ meaningful heirlooms as well.
Family photos and other heirlooms lie on streets and lawns after severe flash flooding in Illinois in 2013. FEMA Corps photo by Bryan Adams
As difficult as losing a house or a pricey entertainment system can be, Foley says it’s the loss of the small personal treasures — old photos, christening gowns, family cookbooks — that can be the most devastating. Luckily, there are things you can do before and after a catastrophe to keep your keepsakes more protected.
As difficult as losing a house or a pricey entertainment system can be, Foley says it’s the loss of the small personal treasures — old photos, christening gowns, family cookbooks — that can be the most devastating. Luckily, there are things you can do before and after a catastrophe to keep your keepsakes more protected.
How to Protect Your Keepsakes
Take an inventory. Foley recommends walking through your house and making a list of the things that are most meaningful to you long before any threat of a fire or flood.
“Really see when you’re walking around — what is it that you refer to? What is it that you really love?” Foley says. “Think about things. If there are recipes that were passed down to you on recipe cards that your grandmother gave you, it’s not the end of the world if you lost them — but it is, in a sense. They’re a part of you and they mean so much to you.”
It’s a great activity to do as a family, going room by room, Foley says. The list, which should include where in the house each item is, should be kept in an easily accessible place with a family emergency kit. People should also consider how much stuff they’ll be able to carry with them should disaster strike. Unfortunately, not every item will be able to make the cut. “Obviously if you don’t have room in the car for the kids, you made the wrong decisions,” Foley says.
After a wildfire swept through close to the Lord home a few years earlier, Gina and Ken did pull together a few boxes of old home movies, vinyl records and family photos that hadn’t been digitized and kept them in an easy-to-get-to place in case they ever faced a similar situation. These were among the first things the family loaded into its cars when the fire did come, but Gina says she wishes she had taken the time before the fire, when she had been thinking more clearly, to really map out all the things she’d want to save. “You’re not thinking rationally,” she says. “You’re not going, ‘Well, what do I need to do?’”
Gina also suggests having some empty boxes at the ready long before a fire is bearing down, just in case. “Had I had some empty boxes, I could have run through my house in those five or 10 minutes while Shelby was taking pictures and we were trying to pack the cats up,” she says. “I would have taken more things.”
How to Create an Inventory, Whether You’re Naturally Organized or Not
Take an inventory. Foley recommends walking through your house and making a list of the things that are most meaningful to you long before any threat of a fire or flood.
“Really see when you’re walking around — what is it that you refer to? What is it that you really love?” Foley says. “Think about things. If there are recipes that were passed down to you on recipe cards that your grandmother gave you, it’s not the end of the world if you lost them — but it is, in a sense. They’re a part of you and they mean so much to you.”
It’s a great activity to do as a family, going room by room, Foley says. The list, which should include where in the house each item is, should be kept in an easily accessible place with a family emergency kit. People should also consider how much stuff they’ll be able to carry with them should disaster strike. Unfortunately, not every item will be able to make the cut. “Obviously if you don’t have room in the car for the kids, you made the wrong decisions,” Foley says.
After a wildfire swept through close to the Lord home a few years earlier, Gina and Ken did pull together a few boxes of old home movies, vinyl records and family photos that hadn’t been digitized and kept them in an easy-to-get-to place in case they ever faced a similar situation. These were among the first things the family loaded into its cars when the fire did come, but Gina says she wishes she had taken the time before the fire, when she had been thinking more clearly, to really map out all the things she’d want to save. “You’re not thinking rationally,” she says. “You’re not going, ‘Well, what do I need to do?’”
Gina also suggests having some empty boxes at the ready long before a fire is bearing down, just in case. “Had I had some empty boxes, I could have run through my house in those five or 10 minutes while Shelby was taking pictures and we were trying to pack the cats up,” she says. “I would have taken more things.”
How to Create an Inventory, Whether You’re Naturally Organized or Not
Back things up. Sentimental photographs, Foley says, are by far the items she sees the most people mourning in the aftermath of a disaster.
If you have a large collection of paper (not digital) photos, take some time when there’s no safety threat to digitize them. Spend a weekend using a home scanner or working with a photo shop to copy each photo or scrapbook page and then back up those files on multiple thumb drives, external hard drives or cloud storage systems.
The same goes for other important documents, such as family recipes, old letters and school papers. (Gina had just completed her doctorate at the time of the fire and lost her dissertation since it wasn’t backed up.)
How to Organize Your Digital Photos
If you have a large collection of paper (not digital) photos, take some time when there’s no safety threat to digitize them. Spend a weekend using a home scanner or working with a photo shop to copy each photo or scrapbook page and then back up those files on multiple thumb drives, external hard drives or cloud storage systems.
The same goes for other important documents, such as family recipes, old letters and school papers. (Gina had just completed her doctorate at the time of the fire and lost her dissertation since it wasn’t backed up.)
How to Organize Your Digital Photos
Size up your storage. You won’t be able to bring everything valuable with you, and trying to could be dangerous, but making thoughtful choices about how and where you store things could help in the face of certain disasters. Foley says that, as a general rule, things of value shouldn’t be stored in basements, but if they are and you have warning that flooding or a storm could be brewing, move those items upstairs to either the main floor or, if the house has two floors and an attic, the second floor. (If the storm damages the roof, the attic could bear the brunt of that damage.) Anything special stored in the attic should similarly be moved downstairs. Additionally, storing items in plastic tubs sealed with tape may keep out water and, subsequently, mold.
Although moving keepsakes to an easy-to-access spot could come in handy if a disaster is approaching, if one isn’t, there’s no reason to box those memories up prematurely.
“Something that matters so much to you, you’re not always just going to leave it in a safety-deposit box or in a box in your home, because you like it. You love it. It’s something that you see or interact with,” Foley says. “You don’t want [your wedding photos] stashed away somewhere.” That’s where a list of items and their locations comes in handy, provided quickly getting to those items in an emergency doesn’t put you in further danger.
Although moving keepsakes to an easy-to-access spot could come in handy if a disaster is approaching, if one isn’t, there’s no reason to box those memories up prematurely.
“Something that matters so much to you, you’re not always just going to leave it in a safety-deposit box or in a box in your home, because you like it. You love it. It’s something that you see or interact with,” Foley says. “You don’t want [your wedding photos] stashed away somewhere.” That’s where a list of items and their locations comes in handy, provided quickly getting to those items in an emergency doesn’t put you in further danger.
The site where the Lord family house once stood
After a Fire
No matter how special your great-uncle’s embroidered handkerchief is, making sure that you, your family and your pets are safe and evacuated in the face of an emergency is always more important. Running back into the house as a fire or storm is approaching to round up more boxes or knickknacks is never worth the risk, Foley emphasizes.
But even if a fire or flood sweeps through, all is not necessarily lost.
Some fires, like the Tubbs blaze that took the Lords’ home in October 2017, are so destructive, nothing can be saved. Others may allow for some careful salvaging of items. In the latter case, Foley says, keep a few things in mind.
After a Fire
No matter how special your great-uncle’s embroidered handkerchief is, making sure that you, your family and your pets are safe and evacuated in the face of an emergency is always more important. Running back into the house as a fire or storm is approaching to round up more boxes or knickknacks is never worth the risk, Foley emphasizes.
But even if a fire or flood sweeps through, all is not necessarily lost.
Some fires, like the Tubbs blaze that took the Lords’ home in October 2017, are so destructive, nothing can be saved. Others may allow for some careful salvaging of items. In the latter case, Foley says, keep a few things in mind.
- Wear protective clothing. Dangers of sifting through fire-damaged debris include plastic toxicity, structural damage, lead-containing building materials, exposed asbestos, chemical residues and potentially mold if water was used to put out the fire. Protective clothing should be worn, especially gloves, face masks and goggles.
- Get started promptly. “The longer soot or ash sits on a surface, the more potential damage it incurs and the harder it is to remove,” Foley says.
- Handle objects as little as possible. A lot of handling further embeds soot into an object. Foley suggests moving things with trays or grabbing them in places that are normally hidden.
- Resist the urge to wipe off soot and ash. It will only embed the soot and ash and make the item harder to clean. Instead, use a vacuum cleaner, being careful not to let the nozzle touch the item. Skip the brush attachment too.
- Don’t unfold textiles. Precious fabrics, such as an inherited dress, quilt or tapestry, are tricky and shouldn’t be unfolded since that can further spread the soot and ash. These can be vacuumed as well, or you can consult a conservator.
- Use soot sponges. Special rubber soot sponges, which are available at big-box or hardware stores, can also be used to lift soot from surfaces. When a portion of the sponge is dirty, you can snip off that part and start with a clean part.
- Contain the smell of smoke. If some items haven’t been affected by fire, keep them away from the items that have. The smell of smoke can easily permeate unaffected items. Keep the windows open and circulating fresh air if the air outside is clear.
- Don’t tackle sooty and wet objects alone. If something valuable to you is sooty and wet from a fire hose or burst pipe, consult an expert. Attempting to clean or move those items on your own can cause further damage.
- Do what you can. If photographs are beyond saving — they’re stuck to a glass frame, for instance — take digital photos of them. “It’s not the same,” Foley says, “but it’s at least something.”
A demonstration on salvaging wet textiles at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico in March 2018. Photo by Stacy Bowe, Smithsonian Institution
Facing Flood Damage
In the case of a flood or storm damage specifically, some personal items may be salvageable if homeowners remember a few important things.
How to Rescue Your Water-Damaged Photos
Facing Flood Damage
In the case of a flood or storm damage specifically, some personal items may be salvageable if homeowners remember a few important things.
- Once authorities have given the OK to reenter your home, put safety first. Whenever you’re reentering a disaster zone and retrieving things from water, the assumption has to be that everything is contaminated. Other risks include mold, chemicals and electric shock.
- Always go in with a buddy. Dress in protective clothing: long-sleeve shirts, long pants, waterproof boots, disposable vinyl or nitrile gloves, goggles and face masks if you know mold is present.
- Generally, a wet object can be rinsed off with clear, clean water if you have access to it.
- If the item is dry, you can clean off silt and debris with a soft brush or dab at it lightly with a damp cloth.
- If possible, wet items should be air-dried indoors. Keep the windows open. Have fans going if you have power. The sun will dry items too quickly, which can cause fading and other damage.
- Think about the space you’re working with. Consider how much space you have to spread out and address these items before choosing what can be salvaged. Is there room in the garage? On a table?
- Leverage your freezer. Mold can form within 48 hours. Immediately placing an item in the freezer, preferably with a frost-free setting, can stop mold from growing. It also can keep ink from running on documents, stop dyes from transferring in textiles and keep books from swelling. “Freezing also buys you time,” Foley says. “Because when something has happened that’s this serious, you are confronting so many things. You have to be thinking about survival and making sure the family is safe and dealing with the house; you have to ask yourself, ‘How much effort do I want to put into salvaging my family’s treasured items? Do I have the mental strength? Do I have the bandwidth to deal with these objects at this time?’” If not, freezing allows you to thaw and dry those items later.
- Consult an expert. Things like metal, glass, paintings and furniture can’t be frozen, so Foley recommends reaching out to a conservation expert with specific questions. The Heritage Emergency National Task Force’s partner organizations can be a great resource. Think something is past the point of saving? Double-check to make sure. “What really gets me so sad is to see pictures of debris piles outside people’s homes after a flood, for instance, and then to talk to them later only to have them realize, ‘You mean I could have saved that photo album after all?’” Foley says.
How to Rescue Your Water-Damaged Photos
Moving Forward
The Lords plan to break ground on their new house in the coming months. Taylor, who just completed a master’s degree in architecture, helped contribute to its design. “We are so happy to just have a place to be in right now,” Shelby says. “Yes, it’s not the house that my dad built, but it’s a place for us to all be together. We’re lucky — we were one of the fortunate ones who got to get our animals out. We’re so grateful for that, so we’re really just starting to look positively at life.”
The photos Shelby took the night of the fire have been helpful not only to remember the beloved family home, but also to catalog everything lost for the insurance company. It’s a preemptive step Gina would encourage people in a similar situation to take, along with really familiarizing themselves with the nitty-gritty details of their disaster coverage insurance policy.
Gina says she and her family will continue to mourn the other photos, books and treasures they lost, but the experience taught them to take nothing for granted.
“What’s that phrase? YOLO? You only live once? We quote that a lot,” Gina says. “Let’s go to Europe next year. Let’s open that bottle of wine. It really kind of grounds you and makes you reassess what’s really important. And even though we grieve the loss of things that will never be replaced, when it’s all said and done, we have each other and we have a great community out here.”
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The Lords plan to break ground on their new house in the coming months. Taylor, who just completed a master’s degree in architecture, helped contribute to its design. “We are so happy to just have a place to be in right now,” Shelby says. “Yes, it’s not the house that my dad built, but it’s a place for us to all be together. We’re lucky — we were one of the fortunate ones who got to get our animals out. We’re so grateful for that, so we’re really just starting to look positively at life.”
The photos Shelby took the night of the fire have been helpful not only to remember the beloved family home, but also to catalog everything lost for the insurance company. It’s a preemptive step Gina would encourage people in a similar situation to take, along with really familiarizing themselves with the nitty-gritty details of their disaster coverage insurance policy.
Gina says she and her family will continue to mourn the other photos, books and treasures they lost, but the experience taught them to take nothing for granted.
“What’s that phrase? YOLO? You only live once? We quote that a lot,” Gina says. “Let’s go to Europe next year. Let’s open that bottle of wine. It really kind of grounds you and makes you reassess what’s really important. And even though we grieve the loss of things that will never be replaced, when it’s all said and done, we have each other and we have a great community out here.”
Share: What would you save if you had time before disaster struck? Tell us in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more stories on disaster prep and recovery
Find home professionals
Shop for home products
“There’s nothing that survived the fire in terms of personal contents — we didn’t find an old photo album or anything like that,” Gina says. “The fire was just so hot that it really destroyed everything. We picked up things that were just unrecognizable. Everything was just melted together.”