Old Records in Dallas May Be Damaged

An underground water main broke under the basement of a Dallas County Office this week, flooding the basement with water. As is the case in most county offices, old records were kept in the basement and are water soaked. 

Sadly this situation is all to reminiscent of the flooding of the National Archives building back in 1890 (resulting in the loss of census records).  You think we would have learned to keep important records in more water friendly containers by now - and perhaps off the ground.  Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Similar scenarios can happen at home.  This is why I recommend keeping all important documents and records in a fireproof (& water tight) box (at least the originals).  I like to scan all of my original documents into the computer (giving me a backup) and then keep the originals in a fireproof box to protect them.

Granted a home fire or flood could destroy your computer backup of old documents and photos  ... this is why most computer experts will tell you it's a good idea to have 2 separate backups of anything important ... with the second backup kept offsite (i.e., a different location).   Folks using an online backup service (like Carbonite), accomplish this task without lifting a finger.  Not only is the data backed up, but it's kept at another location so that if anything happens to your home computer or house, you still have the data safely backed up.

If you'd like to ready more about the Dallas County Office Building flooding, click here.