Of all the businesses near the Casper-Natrona County International Airport, Janie Wait's was one of few not hit during Friday's flash flood.

Too bad, she said, because she was probably the most prepared in case of emergency.

"It boggles my mind, because I'm probably the most prepared person in town for this and I didn't get touched by [the flood]," Wait said.

A certified records manager, Wait runs the only full-service document management company in Wyoming. Her business, Intermountain Record Center, Inc., does microfilming, scanning, storage and confidential destruction of documents.

Since Friday, she's received calls from at least six major businesses seeking advice on how to recover documents submerged in water.

"Their records were wet, and they didn't know how to do the recovery," she said.

She sent them information on document recovery and recommended that from now on, they keep a copy of the local emergency plan and an individual business emergency plan.

"You need to know where you're going to get help in the event of a disaster," she said. "What are their priorities, and what level of help will you get from them?"

During a major flood in Cheyenne in the 1980s, "most records went under water," she said.

Wyoming's permanent records laws require that official documents held by state agencies be kept on paper or microfilm.

"Probably the biggest thing is people don't realize if they've scanned their records, they can put them back to paper," she said. "It's a good thing, because we can recover paper and microfilm really easily."

There's no time like the present to get important documents in order, she said, and disasters sometimes help people to remember that documents aren't always replaceable.

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com.

Records triage

Like triage in hospitals, damaged records and documents should be dealt with on an as-needed basis. Wait suggests the following order of priorities:

1. Saturated paper records: Air dry in a room with fans. Put blotting paper between pages to soak up excess moisture. This step should begin immediately, as mold can develop within 48 hours.

2. Slightly wet paper documents: Can be dried as described above.

3. Records stored on modern media: CDs, floppy disks, photographs, tapes, etc. could be damaged irreparably. Be sure to have backup copies stored off-premises.

In all cases, Wait said, records will likely not return to their pre-disaster appearance. Paper may be marked or distorted after water damage.

Photo recovery

Personal photographs often act as the only records of family memories and times past. Wait suggests the following to minimize water damage to photographs:

* Keep damaged materials cold and wet. Never let them dry.

* Rinse heavy mud or dirt deposits off photos with clean, cold water.

* Place wet items and identification in a plastic bag; seal tightly; keep cold.

* Place the bag in a sturdy box and immediately take it to a document reprocessor or photographic conservator for advice and treatment.

Note: The above applies only to 20th century black-and-white photos and contemporary color materials. Images made by earlier processes require different procedures and should be referred directly to a photographic conservator for advice and treatment.

At the fair…

Although records weren't in much danger, flooding could have put a damper on activities at the Central Wyoming Fair.

Not so, said Fairgrounds Manager Tom Jones. Although water poured on the Fairgrounds on Friday, the situation was taken care of by the next morning.

"Our crews reacted right away to the water," Jones said. "We hustled and bustled, and hopefully we got everything taken care of and won't have anything else to report."

The only real loss was small, he said, from shutting down the carnival on Friday night.

Like triage in hospitals, damaged records and documents should be dealt with on an as-needed basis. Wait suggests the following order of priorities:

1. Saturated paper records: Air dry in a room with fans. Put blotting paper between pages to soak up excess moisture. This step should begin immediately, as mold can develop within 48 hours.

2. Slightly wet paper documents: Can be dried as described above.

3. Records stored on modern media: CDs, floppy disks, photographs, tapes, etc. could be damaged irreparably. Be sure to have backup copies stored off-premises.

In all cases, Wait said, records will likely not return to their pre-disaster appearance. Paper may be marked or distorted after water damage.]]->

Personal photographs often act as the only records of family memories and times past. Wait suggests the following to minimize water damage to photographs:

* Keep damaged materials cold and wet. Never let them dry.

* Rinse heavy mud or dirt deposits off photos with clean, cold water.

* Place wet items and identification in a plastic bag; seal tightly; keep cold.

* Place the bag in a sturdy box and immediately take it to a document reprocessor or photographic conservator for advice and treatment.

Note: The above applies only to 20th century black-and-white photos and contemporary color materials. Images made by earlier processes require different procedures and should be referred directly to a photographic conservator for advice and treatment.]]->

Although records weren't in much danger, flooding could have put a damper on activities at the Central Wyoming Fair.

Not so, said Fairgrounds Manager Tom Jones. Although water poured on the Fairgrounds on Friday, the situation was taken care of by the next morning.

"Our crews reacted right away to the water," Jones said. "We hustled and bustled, and hopefully we got everything taken care of and won't have anything else to report."

The only real loss was small, he said, from shutting down the carnival on Friday night.]]->