Hi Fellow Listers: This just came through the PA Lancaster Co. List from Peggy Reeves..... NARA has already cut out their evening and weekend hours, and today they told me it would be permanent until further notice. There have been budget cuts, and then the flooding we had in D.C. about 5 weeks ago caused extensive damage. NARA in D.C. was completely off-limits for over 3 weeks. The basement was under water, including the nice new cafeteria that they had recently added. They are having to tear things out and completely redo it. The building is open now, but they are still running off of generators, and there is only limited power available. You are not allowed to plug in laptops, and the second floor research room is not being powered at all. Researchers are being kept in a smaller room on the first floor to view their files, but there are only two copiers running, and you are timed at 5 minutes of copying and then you have to go to the end of the line and wait again. The "regulars" are scrambling to keep up with their workload. There is limited seating for researchers in the smaller room, and those without a seat have to wait outside the room on a waiting list and not be allowed in until another researcher exits. Appointments for the bulk copier fill up the day before. It isn't pretty. If you are planning a trip to NARA soon, do yourself a favor and postpone it. Peggy Reeves

Thank you for that message. Was much of the stored material damaged? I do hope someday to be able to visit and continue my research. -----Original Message----- From: Donna Heller Zinn [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 2:52 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [PAHUNTIN] National Archives update on schedule Hi Fellow Listers: This just came through the PA Lancaster Co. List from Peggy Reeves..... NARA has already cut out their evening and weekend hours, and today they told me it would be permanent until further notice. There have been budget cuts, and then the flooding we had in D.C. about 5 weeks ago caused extensive damage. NARA in D.C. was completely off-limits for over 3 weeks. The basement was under water, including the nice new cafeteria that they had recently added. They are having to tear things out and completely redo it. The building is open now, but they are still running off of generators, and there is only limited power available. You are not allowed to plug in laptops, and the second floor research room is not being powered at all. Researchers are being kept in a smaller room on the first floor to view their files, but there are only two copiers running, and you are timed at 5 minutes of copying and then you have to go to the end of the line and wait again. The "regulars" are scrambling to keep up with their workload. There is limited seating for researchers in the smaller room, and those without a seat have to wait outside the room on a waiting list and not be allowed in until another researcher exits. Appointments for the bulk copier fill up the day before. It isn't pretty. If you are planning a trip to NARA soon, do yourself a favor and postpone it. Peggy Reeves ==== PAHUNTIN Mailing List ==== REMINDER: Huntingdon RootsWeb Message Board postings ARE relayed to the PAHUNTIN mailing list. PAHUNTIN mailing list messages ARE NOT posted to the Huntingdon RootsWeb Message Board. ============================== Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. New content added every business day. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx