How do you recover water-damaged records after a flood?

Floodwater is one of the most common and damaging threats to physical records. Paper, photographs, and media begin to deteriorate within hours, and mold can take hold quickly in warm, humid conditions. Acting fast and methodically gives you the best chance of saving valuable and legally significant materials.

Stabilize the environment first

Before touching anything, make the space safe. Restore safety and structural integrity, shut off power where water is present, and wear protective gear, since floodwater may be contaminated. Then lower the temperature and humidity. Cool, dry, circulating air slows deterioration and discourages mold. If possible, get conditions below roughly room temperature and reduce moisture with fans, dehumidifiers, or air conditioning.

Set priorities and document

You cannot save everything at once, so triage. Identify records that are most valuable, irreplaceable, or required for legal, fiscal, or operational reasons, and recover those first. Photograph damage as you go to support insurance claims and recovery planning, and keep a simple log of what was affected and how it was handled.

Dry or freeze without delay

The core principle is to dry materials quickly or freeze them to buy time.

• Air-dry slightly damp items by laying them flat or fanning them open in a cool space with good airflow.
• Interleave wet pages and photographs with absorbent paper, changing it as it saturates.
• Freeze items you cannot dry within about 48 hours. Freezing halts mold growth and damage so materials can be dried later through controlled or freeze-drying methods.

Handle wet records gently. Saturated paper tears easily, and wet photographs and films can stick together permanently if forced apart.

Know your limits

Some materials need professional help. Coated papers, bound volumes, photographs, magnetic media, and anything showing mold or heavy staining should go to a trained conservator or recovery service. For digital and audiovisual media, specialized recovery may be the only option.

Most importantly, plan before disaster strikes. A written disaster-response plan, current inventory, off-site backups, and identified salvage priorities turn a chaotic emergency into a manageable process.

For more on protecting collections over the long term, see our archives and preservation hub.