How to save family valuables damaged from severe weather

GREENFIELD, IOWA — Just two months after the EF-4 tornado ripped through Greenfield, scenes of debris scattered everywhere have turned into empty lots of family homes being rebuilt.

Those who have photos, books, documents, and more that are sentimental to the family that were damaged in the storm have options to try to restore those items.

“This is a collaboration between FEMA and the Smithsonian Institution to show people some tips and simple techniques that they can use to try and salvage and stabilize their items that may have been damaged in the flood and these would be things that may be family heirlooms, treasured possessions,” said Kara Griffin, PhD the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, with FEMA.

The task force held a free demonstration in Greenfield at the recovery center at Nodaway Valley Elementary School. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., anyone interested in accessing these free resources and educational materials could swing by for the demonstration.

“I love that about this program, is this is a program where we can actually help people do something today, right now, to try and save things that really mean a lot to them. And it’s not all about money or items that have to be replaced. Certainly food, shelter, safety, those are all things that people absolutely need. But also what’s important to people are their memories and their cherished family treasures and heirlooms,” said Griffin.

The task force is traveling to to Tipton, Estherville, Spencer, Rock Rapids and Rock Valley over the course of the next week to provide these materials all over the state. They are taking place at the disaster recovery centers in each of those locations, with those addresses found here.

For all of the instructional material provided at these demonstrations, with specific details on how to clean certain items along with instructional videos, you can go to the task force’s website .

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