Every year a small percentage of museums and historical societies face a major disaster, most commonly a fire or flood. Although one often presumes a disaster is the result of an act of nature - hurricane, volcano, or earthquake - an electrical fire in an elevator shaft or a break in a city water main can produce equivalent levels of damage for the unprepared institution. Museum staffs must cope with these emergencies and assume responsibility for dealing with the problems that arise. Their degree of success depends upon their contingency planning.