For a week after Hurricane Floyd struck the East Coast on September 16, the eastern third of North Carolina faced the worst flooding in the state’s history, with entire towns submerged. North Carolina’s Chief of Library Development Cal Shepard told American Libraries that “virtually every library that we’ve heard from reported some damage—shingles off the roof, a little water blown in, a little dampness in the basement.”
Water came up to shoulder level at the Windsor branch of the Albemarle Regional Library, destroying most of its collection and its new computer center. The library in Swanquarter flooded up to the window sills; the library staff in nearby Belhaven avoided disaster by moving all items off the floor. The Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount was unhurt, but director Martha Turney lost her home and her car and had to be rescued from her house in chest-deep water.
Libraries in two other states also sustained damage. In New Jersey, Rahway Free Public Library lost 25% of its collection as water rose to 13 feet, destroying carpets, computers, and the furnace. The Felician College library in Lodi was one of the hardest-hit campus buildings, losing an estimated 85% of its collection.
Floodwaters inundated the lower shelves of the Carrollton branch of the Walter Cecil Rawls Library and Museum in southern Virginia. The library had only been open for two months and had been scheduled for dedication two days after Floyd hit.
Posted September 27, 1999.