Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo and Erie County Military and Naval Park suffered some damage as a result of the Buffalo blizzard, which has resulted in USS The Sullivans listing once again and taking on water.
"The Sullivans specifically did take on water, we found two compartments that had about 30 and 32 inches of water respectively," said Paul Marzello, President and CEO of the park. "A third compartment was identified just [Wednesday] and at this point, we don't know exactly how much water it is, but we're taking a good look at that."
Marzello says they've been pumping the water out the last couple days. "We'll observe and we'll pump it out one final time and call in a contractor to do the necessary repairs from the inside and possibly the outside. If it's bad enough."
The park also suffered some damage to their hangar building as well. "Unfortunately, we had a pipe burst in the hangar building and the sprinkler system was also triggered," said Marzello. "So there was extensive damage to not only the drywall, but the electrical panels and the electrical components that were in the mechanical room, along with some items that we had in storage. So we're still assessing the damage with that as well."
Marzello also notes the team at the park has learned a thing or to from the previous listing of the ship in April of last year, as the ship took on millions of gallons of water. "The leaks that we're experiencing now are certainly manageable. We are taking daily readings from the ship to find out what the water levels are in all of the compartments so that we can see if there's water intrusion."
The park currently has a naval surveyor under contract, who has been working with the park for the last several weeks. "Part of his task has been to observe and to analyze all three ships with regard to the integrity of the hull, and to make sure that if there is any product in them, that it can be removed safely," said Marzello. "Thirdly, is to examine the possibility what it would take to move the ships if that's the best course of action to a dry dock."
Marzello says taking the boats to a dry dock in Erie, PA for further repairs are probable, but they will wait for the full report of the naval surveyor, who will report to the park's Board of Directors with his analysis in February.
As far as the USS Croaker and USS Little Rock stand vessels right now, "Little Rock is in good shape," Marzello notes. "She is the stronger of the three. She did receive damage on her portside, windward side and a lot of the lifelines that were ripped off and some of the things that were on a deck of the ship. The Croaker seemed to weather the storm the best. She's got some damage to her decking," Marzello says. "We did have one of the connecting stairways that go from The Sullivans up to The Little Rock and as well from the Little Rock down to the Croaker that received damage. In fact, the one that connects the celebrants to the Little Rock completely tore off her hinges and blew into the Buffalo River and we had to fish it out just at the beginning of this past week."