Just as it is beginning to emerge from years of financial struggles, New York’s South Street Seaport Museum has been dealt what its president called “a body blow” by Superstorm Sandy and is desperately seeking donors, says The New York Times. Floodwater surging up to six feet destroyed the building’s electrical and computer systems, cafe, admissions desk, and gift shop.

Cultural organizations across the city were hard-hit by the storm, with damage to 57 nonprofit theaters totaling more than $800,000, according to the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York. The impact was felt particularly at the Seaport Museum, which is getting back on its fiscal feet after receiving a lifeline last year from the Museum of the City of New York.