Supplies For Lynn Mural Festival Damaged By Flood; Residents, Businesses Clean Up Mess
LYNN (CBS) - In the warehouse for this week's "Beyond Walls" mural festival in Lynn, organizers were going through a mess of paint and soggy boxes Monday. During the height of Sunday's flood, the supplies for the event were underwater, with spray paint cans floating on top.
"All of our generators were underwater," said Beyond Walls Executive Director Al Wilson. "All of our liquid paint was underwater for some time."
Twenty-five artists from around the world are in Lynn to brighten up the city. They're not just dodging raindrops, but cascades of water. "We've had a few drips you can see by the hand on the woman where we painted it in," said British artist Sam Worthington, who goes by the artist name Wasp Elder. "It sort of started to run down and we had to abandon work, and all the paint has been filled up with water."
Some artists are extending their stay so they can make up for time lost during the storm that turned Lynn streets into rivers and had cars floating.
Businesses around the city spent Monday cleaning up soggy inventory. At a home on Ainsworth Place, a fire crew helped a homeowner pump water from his basement where there's a gaping hole in the foundation. "It just collapsed in," said Frank Ewing, who moved in only ten days ago.
Despite all the chaos, the mural festival will go on until Sunday. Organizers have moved equipment and supplies to storage units on higher ground. "Just knowing that there might be another flood..." said Wilson. "It was important to get that out of there."
