As soon as we received word that the Red River would rise to record levels,
we began to prepare for the worse. Among other things, we . . .
covered the carpets throughout the building with disposible plastic runners
prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice:
packed a suitcase
parked our cars in front
of the building, pointing them toward the front gate
contacted parishes to which we could evacuate
reviewed evacuation plans and wrote out lists with contact information
kept our cell phones charged
created signs for our front door with our contact information
filled every pitcher and kettle with water, in case the water supply was cut off
made sure there were flashlights available in key locations and that there was a supply of fresh batteries
for them and the portable radios
prepared coffee, sandwiches and snacks for those who had volunteered to walk the dike (in the end, the
National Guard were assigned to protect the dike, — and they seemed to go for the coffee and chocolate
chip cookies!)
removed artifacts from display windows and moved them to higher ground
relocated books in the library off of the bottom shelves
put office equipment, other machines and files on tables and desk tops
