A flood recovery ceremony took place Tuesday afternoon to mark the Sept. 1 flooding of the Brandywine River Museum from Hurricane Ida and to thank those who restored the museum so quickly, writes Rich Schwartzman for Chadds Ford Live.

Floodwaters damaged or destroyed the ground floors of all the buildings at the Brandywine Conservancy’s Chadds Ford campus. The water crested at 21.4 feet, almost to the ceiling.

Virginia Logan, the conservancy’s executive director, said water “flipped over desks, refrigerators in break rooms and destroyed critical files.”

Though art work was spared, climate control and electrical equipment on the first floor had to be replaced and moved higher.

Recovery has cost the Conservancy $6 million so far, but initial estimates the museum would be closed for nine to 12 months were scaled back to only three months thanks to the efforts of so many.

Logan thanked Chadds Ford officials, state Rep. Craig Williams, U.S. Rep Mary Gay Scanlon, and other disaster responders from Delaware County and PEMA, for their help.

Logan said work still needs to be done to flood-harden the museum.

“It needs to be hard as a boat,” she said.

Read more about the Brandywine River Museum flood recovery event at Chadds Ford Live.

This video looks at the N.C. Wyeth exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum.