Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Tropical trouble could stir near Southeast beaches around 4th of July. Get details Chevron right
Severe storms, flash flooding to bring July Fourth holiday travel hassles. Get details Chevron right

Columbus, OH

74°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

74°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Weather News

Why it’s important to protect your cherished, irreplaceable photos before a natural disaster happens

By Ashley Williams, AccuWeather staff writer

Copied

Imagine returning home after a major storm wreaked havoc on your neighborhood to discover not only that your house has suffered significant damage, but also that your precious family photos are unrecognizable due to mud, rain or floodwater.

It’s a reality for many people who have gone through natural disasters including wildfires, flooding and hurricanes.

Following Hurricane Florence’s devastation over the Carolinas, more than 2 billion images could potentially be lost, according to ScanMyPhotos.com President and CEO Mitch Goldstone.

“The reason for that is the average household has about 5,500 photos, and [we estimated] that about 350,000 homes are going to be damaged,” Goldstone told AccuWeather, adding that 1 billion photos were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey-related flooding in 2017.

Flood-damaged family photos in a New-Jersey home - AP Photo

Barbara Oblinger, left, and her son, Ashley Oblinger, looks through a photo album damaged by flooding at her house in Little Falls, New Jersey, Monday, Aug. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

“It shouldn’t happen,” he said. “It’s something that’s highly preventable.”

It’s as simple as taking action to protect and preserve important photos and documents well before disasters occur.

Digitizing images is a crucial step in protecting images, Goldstone said. Images can be scanned at home and uploaded to a cloud, external hard drive or flash drive. For families with hundreds of photos, photo scanning services like ScanMyPhotos.com offer to scan photos and negatives in bulk.

“We do all of the work,” Goldstone said. Users can order a pre-paid box that hold about 1,800 images each. The box can then be shipped back to the California-based company, where they digitize the images and send back the originals once the process is complete.

Unfortunately for many, natural disasters strike before they’re able to back up their cherished photos, leaving the images vulnerable to the impacts of fire, water, dirt and debris.

Operation Photo Rescue

In this Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, image, photo restorer Dennis McKeever, left, uses Photoshop to retouch a damaged photo belonging to Florence Catania of Deer Park, New York, during the restoration project of Operation Photo Rescue-Hurricane Sandy, at New York's School of Visual Arts. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

“People break down and start crying to see their photos totally ruined,” said Margie Hayes, president of Operation Photo Rescue, which has helped recover photos from natural disaster damage since Hurricane Katrina. “It’s people’s history, these [images] mean a lot to them.”

Thanks to organizations like Operation Photo Rescue, which runs entirely on donations and offers services free of charge, some of these irreplaceable images can be restored.

The volunteer network of professional photojournalists and amateur digital photographers, graphic designers and image restoration artists works to repair pictures damaged by natural events, including house fires in rare cases.

"Fire is really the worst thing, because the heat is so bad, it melts them,” Hayes said. “If the heat doesn’t get them, then the water putting it out probably does.”

The organization sets up copy runs in natural disaster-affected areas, and people bring in their damaged images for restoration. She noted that while they have been able to restore some fire-damaged images, they’re usually left destroyed beyond repair.

Infographic - How to save flood-damaged photos

Hayes noted that it’s critical for photos damaged by water to be cleaned up as soon as possible if there’s any hope for salvaging them.

“Another thing is a lot of people wait too long, so they get stuck together, and then they figure all is lost and then throw them away, which is not true,” Hayes said.

“Normally, if they’re stuck together, what you need to do is put them in clean water and let them soak until they start to come apart gently.”

RELATED:

Preparing for the costliest weather disaster in the US: How to stay safe before, during and after a flood
How to handle flood damage after a hurricane if you’re uninsured
3 long-term health dangers that flooding can pose to affected communities
Expert tips for preventing mold growth or remediating mold in your home after a flood

For framed photos, Hayes recommended getting the wet photo out of the frame by keeping the glass and photo together. While holding both, she advised then rinsing them with clear, flowing water, using the water stream to gently separate the image from the glass.

Some historical images are sensitive to water damage, which makes them less likely to be recoverable, according to Operation Photo Rescue.

<hr>

For more safety and preparedness tips, visit AccuWeather.com/Ready.

AccuWeather ready logo
Report a Typo

Weather News

Recreation

Boulders narrowly miss swimmers at popular Utah waterfall

Jun. 27, 2025
Weather Forecasts

July 4 Forecast: Thunderstorms to focus over Upper Midwest and Florida

Jul. 1, 2025
Weather News

Girl, 8, rescued after 7 hours in flooded sewer in China

Jun. 27, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Severe Weather

Severe storms, flash flooding to bring July 4 holiday travel hassles

1 hour ago

Weather News

Storm chaser stages whirlwind proposal with real tornado

1 hour ago

Weather News

Tropical trouble could stir near Southeast beaches around 4th of July

33 minutes ago

Astronomy

July offers rare meteor shower combo, stunning views of the Milky Way

5 days ago

Weather News

Flights cancelled as Atlanta airport recovers from severe weather

2 days ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Travel

Fourth of July gas hasn’t been this cheap since 2021

2 hours ago

Recreation

Two people rescued after going overboard on Disney cruise ship

3 hours ago

Weather News

Fossil reveals ‘Last of Us’-type fungus likely lived with dinosaurs

6 days ago

Health

'Inverse' vaccines may hold key to challenge autoimmune diseases

1 day ago

Weather News

World’s most liveable city for 2025 revealed

1 week ago

AccuWeather Weather News Why it’s important to protect your cherished, irreplaceable photos before a natural disaster happens
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...