[MSN] EL PASO, Texas -- Six weeks after celebrating its grand reopening the El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center was flooded with sewage and shut down again on March 14.

[MSN]

Flood Ruins Holocaust Museum


EL PASO, Texas -- Six weeks after celebrating its grand reopening the El
Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center was flooded with sewage and shut down
again on March 14.

Museum volunteer Rick Armour said, "There was water coming up out of the
drains and the entire building was flooded. It was a mess."

He also added, "There's water all over the place. And there's filth, there's
human waste in the water and everything. It's a very serious health hazard
right now."

The sewage was ankle deep in some parts of the museum when crews from El
Paso Water Utilities and a private cleaning company began working on the
mess.

An earlier tragedy closed the Holocaust Museum for more than six years when
an electrical fire destroyed the original museum in 2001.

This time, a flood caused major damage to its brand new home.

The museum's executive director said the results are far less devastating,
because nothing priceless was lost.

Leslie Novick, the museum's executive director, said, "Our artifacts are
safe. That's the good news and damage in the galleries is very minimal,
which is our main concern. Everything else can be replaced. The carpeting
will need to be replaced, the furniture, some computers. But we're just
thankful that the artifacts are OK"

Leslie Novick also said the Holocaust Museum will not reopen until
everything is decontaminated and cleaned up.

She expected the cleanup to take about three weeks.

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