Pennsylvania flood museum temporarily closed due to flooding

The Guardian

28-01-2025

A museum dedicated to commemorating the victims of a 19th-century flood in Pennsylvania has temporarily closed due to flooding – caused on the inside of the facility by a water leak stemming from recent, extremely cold weather, officials on said Monday.
Fortunately for its patrons, the Johnstown Flood Museum said on its social media accounts that 'nothing of historic significance was affected' by the interior inundation.
'We hope to soon have a timeline for reopening,' the statement added. 'In the meantime, we appreciate your patience as we work to remediate and repair our beloved flagship museum.'
The statement also thanked a volunteer docent at the museum, Nikki Bosley, who was working in the archives when she discovered the leak.
Museum officials informed the local news outlet WJAC that Bosley 'sounded the alarm and allowed us to get in here and keep it from being much, much worse'.
According to the museum officials, a valve failure on the building's third floor caused the flooding. They told WJAC that water poured through the walls, resulting in damage to the carpets, drywall and ceiling tiles.
The facility is working with its insurance company to reopen the building once the necessary work is completed as soon as possible, according to WJAC.
The museum commemorates the Great Johnstown Flood that occurred on 31 May 1889, when – after days of heavy rainfall – the South Fork dam ruptured, gave way and released 20m tons of water to the surrounding areas.
The catastrophe claimed the lives of 2,209 people, including 99 entire families and nearly 400 children, and destroyed 1,600 homes, according to heritagejohnstown.org.
Bodies were found as far away as Cincinnati, Ohio, and as late as 1911, according to the museum's website.
In the years that followed, Johnstown experienced additional significant floods, notably in 1936 and 1977.