Last week in Louisville, Ky., six inches of rain fell in about 75 minutes. That amount of rain in such a short time was no match for the sewer systems used to drain water during a storm. One area, in particular, that was hit hard was the University of Louisville. Several days after the downpour, the university is struggling to get back to normal. Buildings are still closed as damage is being assessed and power restored.

Little has been said about the university's servers and data centers. Hopefully that means everything with regards to technology is in working order. But it makes you wonder what would have happened if those critical areas had been deluged. Would academic data have been erased forever? Not if a proper backup or disaster recovery plan was implemented.

Abilene Christian University has created an extensive Technology Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Plan to deal with these unforeseen circumstances. Here's hoping the University of Louisville and all educational institutions have something similar.

Here are a couple of other documents that are helpful in preparing for calamities.

NIST Contingency Planning Guide for IT Systems

Backup Guidelines