Nearly a year later, Katrina-damaged computers still coming in

The 2006 hurricane season officially arrived this week, but Ontrack Data Recovery is still receiving systems affected by Hurricane Katrina last year. "These are drives that have had buildings fall on them, have been submerged in mud," says Todd Johnson, vice president of operations. Surprisingly, OnTrack can often recover data from these heavily damaged systems - if the data is worth enough. "Drives that were in a hurricane or flood often times are the most challenging and time consuming and costly," Johnson says. While a typical recovery on a laptop might cost $1,000, drives that are hurricane victims cost more in part because the drives must be disassembled, disinfected and cleaned.

The biggest mistake people make is turning on damaged systems. Although disk drives are sealed, moisture still gets inside them during a flood. "Users say, 'I'll dry it out and fire it up.' When that happens the [disk drive read/write] heads get affixed to the platters."

Going forward, the best strategy it to take steps to prevent your computer systems from becoming hurricane victims. Simple prevention measures include removing equipment from the ground floor, where it may be susceptible to flooding. And you don't have to be in Louisiana or Florida to worry about hurricane damage. Last Fall the remnants of a hurricane hit New Hampshire in the Northeast, dropping 11 inches of rain in 24 hours. A business near me lost its production workstations, which are located in basement offices. The equipment is now up on desks instead of underneath them. And you can bet that the next time heavy rains are predicted they will be moved upstairs.