feature

With temperatures well below freezing , the boiler in the laboratory HVAC system failed , as did not one , but two notification systems to alert authorities to the failure . By the time the incident was discovered , the laboratory interior was colder than the outdoors . “ I had to find pencils to write with , because pens were frozen solid ,” said Bean .

Even worse , once the building was slowly reheated , emergency personnel warned that overhead sprinkler heads would explode . “ And boy did they blow ,” Bean said . Although all equipment and desktops were covered in advance , the water turned to ice on the cold laboratory floors , leaving the building uninhabitable .

After a specific incident , Bean said , it is easy to spot the gaps in COOP plans written for a generic emergency .

“ Staff communication plans needed to be improved . We did not have an inventory list or map of all the nitrogen and CO 2 canisters in our laboratory . The fire department wanted to know where they were . Another example : We ’ ve known there are areas in the laboratory where cell phone coverage is not good . We decided we needed portable radio phones on each floor .”

Finally , staff discovered that many equipment service contracts had no coverage for natural disasters , necessitating extra insurance “ just for floods ,” even though the laboratory is not in a flood zone .

Reflecting on her experiences since Hurricane Harvey , Phillips said , “ What you have to understand is that this will happen . Floods will happen . ... It ’ s hard

A maintenance worker at the New Hampshire Public Health Laboratory inspects water damage from frozen pipes . Photo : NH PHL

for me to convey how hard everyone was — and still is — working to get back to some kind of normalcy ; it was such a daunting task . We just did our part . Every single time we learn how to do it a little bit better [ for ] next time .” Phillips ’ biggest piece of advice for fellow laboratorians ? “ Be prepared .” n