NOMA | New Orleans Museum of Art

Hurricane Isaac spares NOMA & Besthoff Sculpture Garden

By Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune
Published: Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 12:53 PM

The New Orleans Museum of Art, which suffered costly water seepage through its basement floor doing Hurricane Katrina, was undamaged by Hurricane Isaac as of midday Wednesday, chief of security Byron Winbush said. Rain water leaked through the windows near the museum cafe, but beyond that, Isaac appears to have spared the City Park landmark.

Despite several fallen limbs and small upturned trees, the modern sculptures in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden appeared to be intact. Even the stainless steel tower by Kenneth Smelson, which fell during Hurricane Katrina, remained upright Wednesday morning.

Winbush said NOMA was staffed during the storm by a skeleton crew of two engineers and security guards. During Hurricane Katrina, a larger group of staff members took refuge in the 100-year-old building. Generators were providing power, Winbush said.

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