On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy tore through New Jersey and New York, leaving many National Parks heavily damaged. Morristown NHP was pretty lucky but lost power for nearly ten days. The storm caused extensive tree damage and the power outage caused climate issues and a resulting mold bloom in the special collections. Luckily, we had help from Flat Ranger Hernandez. Hernandez was part of the first NPS Incident Management Team (IMT) that responded quickly after the disaster.
After checking to see that all staff was safe, she put together a plan to assess the most critical issues we faced: fallen trees and hazardous tree branches, power outages, and mold activity.
She was relieved that the two large trees that fell behind the Ford Mansion missed the building. She estimated that 800+ trees had fallen in Jockey Hollow and deemed the trails unsafe for visitors for the time being.
While the power was still out, she helped evacuate susceptible books from special collections.
She showed the curatorial team how to carefully remove mold from rare books. Putting safety first, she wore a mask, Tyvek lab coat, rubber gloves, and safety glasses.
This delicate brush was especially helpful for removing powdery mold from textblock.
Once power was restored, her Incident Management Team moved on to help another park in the area. She got her Park passport stamped before she left.
Thanks, Flat Ranger Hernandez!
We appreciate your hard work and dedication!
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