Our discussion might be a bit academic now but I thought that I should add a
couple points to the discussion here:

(1) Location of facility in vulnerable areas - This is something for which
there is no easy answer.  While we know that the New Orleans bowl is not
ideal as a location, finding a location that protects against a Category 5
hurricane would be exceptionally difficult along the Gulf Coast.  I too have
seen the devastation, and quite honestly wonder where along the Gulf Coast
(from South Padre Island, Texas to the Florida Keys, and then on the
Atlantic Coast to at least the Outer Banks of North Carolina).

A key question here is this:  Are we, in the Records and Information
Management business prepared to pay the price in slower servicing times to
have facilities that are sufficiently far from our offices to protect
against a weather related disaster?

A second question would be this, and it is somewhat rhetorical:  Should we
be equally critical of our firms and advise them NOT to build facilities
where active records (electronic and paper-based) are as vulnerable to
hurricanes? -- I'll be interested in hearing how many of the businesses and
government agencies fared in protecting records in active use, and whether
we hear stories about which businesses are now going to avoid being within,
say 50 or 75 miles of the coast line.

(2) Facility construction - If a commercial records center were to build a
facility with the goal in mind to protect against such a disaster, how would
it do so and who could possibly afford to store their records in such a
location?  How would a commercial records facility protect against Category
5 Hurricane winds, potential Category 5 tornado winds, and floods?  I'm not
certain that I know of any such building, nor do I have any idea what the
construction costs of such a fail-safe facility might be.

If such a facility were constructed, could records storage costs be
justified?

Just some food for thought as we continue our discussion of the practical
nature of some of what we'll be discussing here.

Douglas P. Allen, CRM, CDIA+

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