McCreary Courthouse Floods
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
McCreary Courthouse Floods
By Shane Gilreath
SCN Contributing Editor
[email protected]
Photo Courtesy Kathy King (FB).
Sewage and fire trucks surrounded the McCreary County Courthouse on Sunday as SCN arrived on the scene after torrential rainfalls and an alleged burst pipe caused significant flooding throughout the government building. According to some sources, a damaged pipe led to water pooling across multiple areas of the courthouse, prompting an emergency response as crews worked to contain the damage and begin cleanup efforts.
Brandon Troxell with Troxell Restoration, one of the companies who, alongside the McCreary County Water District, responded to the crisis, estimated that 5,000 square feet of the building was flooded with some parts standing in water as high as 14 inches. After working the scene all day, on Sunday night, Troxell said the company estimated that some 60,000 gallons of water had been removed from the building.
Officials with the McCreary County Clerk’s office announced that downstairs District Court proceedings scheduled for Wednesday have been canceled due to the flooding, as workers were seen wading through waters that had engulfed the court room. However, there was some hope that business as usual could go on in courtrooms on other floors, with District Jail Arraignments and Preliminary Hearings expected to resume as soon as Thursday.
Disaster is not unfamiliar to the McCreary County Courthouse. The county’s first courthouse – a simple, white clapboard structure – was destroyed in a 1927 fire that shocked the community. The scandal grew when the son of County Judge Dr. Thomas Ralston was among the three men charged in the arson. In 1952, another devastating downtown fire swept through Whitley City, destroying much of the business district and claiming the county’s second courthouse – a Greek Revival structure, whose prominent columns and clock tower overlooked the town from a nearby hill. The devastation from the 1952 fire led to calls to abolish McCreary County and return the land to the surrounding counties from which it was formed in 1912.
On Sunday, county officials expressed gratitude to employees and emergency personnel who worked to address the flood.
