The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum suffered such extensive damage during super storm Sandy that it will have to drastically scale down its annual Pearl Harbor Day commemoration, officials said today.
The military museum — which includes the World War II-era aircraft carrier the USS Intrepid — is still without power and likely won’t open until around Christmas.
Because of the lack of power and damages to the museum’s mechanical rooms, the world famous ceremony marking the 71st anniversary of the tragedy will be held on the pier instead of on the Intrepid.
Unlike previous year, the public will not be allowed to attend because the pier cannot accommodate large groups of people.
Only veterans groups will be invited.
Water flooded the museum’s welcome center, which must be gutted to prevent mold growth.
Staffers had put two feet of sandbags in the electrical room to protect it, but the storm was too strong.
“Once the salt water hit the electrical room, even with two feet of sandbags we got damage,” said Al Barto, the Intrepid’s operations manager.
“It came so fast that we couldn’t shut off all of the main feeders [electrical units] We shut two off and the third one blew.”