A severe thunderstorm packing high winds tore a portion of the roof off Ben Johnson Elementary School Thursday morning.
Teachers arriving at the Breckinridge County school, located at 13598 Hwy 259 (Leitchfield Road), at approximately 6:30 Thursday morning were the first to report the damage, as high winds peeled the roof off in the gymnasium and kitchen areas of the school. In addition to structural damage, the building also had water damage from rainfall.
Approximately 200 students were re-routed to Breckinridge County High School after the damage was determined to be much too great to hold classes in the building. Students met with teachers at the high school, with classes conducted there.
Inspectors, gas and electric company employees, a roofing company and clean up workers labored all day Thursday assessing damage and cleaning up a massive amount of debris.
In addition to damage to the school, a convenience store across the street had a carport damaged, and a restaurant just down the road suffered roof damage in the storm. There were damaged carports at nearby residences and sections of metal roofing tangled in trees.
Breckinridge County Schools on Friday will utilize an NTI Day.
(WHAS11.com, WDRB.com and WXBC.com contributed to the article)
(Headline photo courtesy of WHAS11.com)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
