FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Franklin County courthouse remains closed after catastrophic flooding in April, with judicial leaders telling lawmakers the repairs will likely cost millions.
Danny Rhoades with the Administrative Office of the Courts says the estimate for both the Franklin County Courthouse and the Hardin County Courthouse is $11 million. This includes properly drying the buildings, making repairs, and restoring damaged files. Insurance is expected to cover only $1 million of the damage in Franklin County.
In April, floodwaters rose several feet high on the bottom floor of the Franklin County courthouse, forcing judges, lawyers and court officials to rush to save court files as water poured into the building.
"You can kind of smell almost like a petroleum smell. But that's from the hydraulics of the elevators and stuff," Judge Thomas Wingate said during a tour of the damage in April.
Wingate described the rapid onset of the flooding to lawmakers on the Interim Judicial Committee on Tuesday.
"It actually started coming in about like 10 o'clock in the morning. By 11, I ordered everyone out. I felt someone was going to get electrocuted. It was coming in that quick," Wingate said.
Rhoades showed lawmakers photos of the progress made on the building, noting that "the first floor is basically completely gutted."
Officials hope to restore power to the building in the next few weeks, which will allow them to better assess the extent of the damage, according to Rhoades.
"We will then have to do an evaluation on all of the HVAC equipment, the plumbing equipment, the pumps throughout the building and then make the determination of what needs to be replaced and how quickly we can get operations back," Rhoades said.
With insurance likely covering only $1 million of the damage in Franklin County, officials are waiting to see if FEMA aid will be approved by President Donald Trump. In the meantime, court officials have asked lawmakers for assistance.
"The court will need y'alls help," Rhoades told the committee.
