Sandy Damage Closes Statue of Liberty

Nov. 2, 2012— -- The Statue of Liberty is closed again. It shut down Monday as a result of superstorm Sandy, a day after its grand reopening.

"Due to conditions created by Hurricane Sandy, Statue of Liberty National Monument will be closed until further notice," the alert on the National Park Service website reads.

The website gives no further detail, but a message on the Statue of Liberty's Facebook page reads:

"The Statue of Liberty National Monument, encompassing both Liberty and Ellis Islands, will be CLOSED through Saturday, November 3rd. Please refer to our FB page and our Twitter feed @StatueLibrtyNPS for information regarding plans for Sunday. Our maintenance crews have a huge challenge in pumping water and clearing debris from the islands, but the conditions at the screening facilities in Battery Park, NY, and Liberty State Park, NJ, will also affect operations."

In a storm-damage report published by the National Park Service Wednesday, the agency said of the situation on Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island: "All electrical and mechanicals on Ellis Island are underwater; a fuel tank has been dislodged. Liberty Island may have lost all high voltage equipment."

The statue had just reopened its interior Sunday after a year-long, $30 million renovation. Sunday was the statue's 126th birthday.