Today marks 20 years since raging flood waters caused millions in damage to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus.
The hardest hit was Hamilton Library. Its map collection and rare books, including Prince Kūhiō's personal collection, were damaged and destroyed by the water and mud that collected on the basement floor. Five years later, staff were still sifting through damaged materials.
HPR talked to Hawaiʻi State Archivist Adam Jansen about what’s being done to protect valuable documents and artifacts in the Hawaiʻi Capital Historic District.
The Hawaiʻi State Archives is just across the street from the Kalanimoku Building, where key government computers are housed in a flood-prone basement. There are also government documents at the archives, treasured artifacts at ʻIolani Palace, and books and periodicals at the state library's main branch.
"We've been very fortunate in that we are just outside the flood zone, but with global warming and sea level rise, we don't know when and if those maps are going to be updated," he said.
Though they have not experienced a flood, Jansen said the archives office tries not to store anything of permanent value in the basement. Most of the publications and maps downstairs could be purchased again if they were damaged.
"For us, it's trying to keep everything, you know, upstairs, which is 15 feet above ground level — and ideally, if we have a flood that's over 15 feet tall, we've got much larger problems to have to consider," Jansen said.
There are discussions about building or retrofitting a new facility since staff have run out of space to store items. Jansen said they are halfway into developing a master plan for the future of the Hawaiʻi State Archives.
"As we move forward, we will utilize the latest in engineering design to be able to make this facility watertight. We know it can be done," he said.
They are also focusing on digitizing the most important records, those that protect individual rights, identities, properties and histories — should a worst-case scenario ever occur.
"We're old school. We don't trust the cloud. We like backup tapes because that gives us an offline copy that protects us against, you know, cyberattacks of any kind," Jansen added. "There are definitely distinct advantages to the cloud, but I don't see it necessarily as a cure-all over the long term for the most important records that have to be kept forever."
As for what keeps him up at night? The risk of further decreased funding.
"Most people don't realize how important archives are until you need that one record that we have to help protect your rights," Jansen told HPR.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Oct. 30, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
