The Fine Points of Artwork Claims

In 2008, floods in the Midwest deluged Cedar Rapids, Iowa, submerging nine square miles of the city. The river swelled more than 32 feet and swamped the first floor exhibits of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, where approximately a thousand traditional garments were found caked together in a large pile of putrid, black mud. Elsewhere in the city, the Veterans Memorial Museum suffered enough sewage contamination that work crews were not allowed inside for an additional week and a half after the event. By that time, there was active mold growth on the first floor, and the second floor’s stored collections were deteriorating under...