Intrepid Out of Commission from Sandy, Shuttle Sustains “Minor Damage”

Four years after undergoing an extensive renovation in Bayonne, New Jersey, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has sustained a mechanical setback. All thanks to the rising waters from Hurricane Sandy. Pier 86 was completely flooded by the Hudson River, knocking out the electrical and backup generators. This loss of power led to the deflation of the nascent Space Shuttle pavilion, causing some unspecified “minor damage.”

Here’s more from the press release that landed in our mailbag:

he entire Intrepid Museum family would like to thank all those who have reached out to us following Hurricane Sandy. We hope you and your family are safe and our thoughts and prayers are with all those in the affected areas.

We are extremely grateful to a dedicated team of staff who remained onsite during this incredible storm to keep the Intrepid safe.

The rise in the Hudson River due to Hurricane Sandy caused flooding and damage to our Welcome Center and Intrepid’s power sources. While the pier was designed to withstand the 100-year flood, the unprecedented levels of water flooded the entire pier including the main electrical transformers and our backup generators. As a result, loss of all power caused the Space Shuttle Pavilion to deflate. The space shuttle Enterprise sustained only minor damage. The Intrepid, Growler, Concorde and balance of our aircraft collection were not damaged.

Our team has been working 24/7 on remediation and will return to working on site as soon as power is restored.