Insurance Adjusters Survey Flood Damage at Kentucky Derby Museum

August 7, 2009

Much of the Kentucky Derby Museum's prized collection is scattered on tables after extensive damage from flash flooding that hit Louisville.

Insurance investigators toured the museum on Wednesday, a day after torrential rains flooded the basement where about half of the collection was stored at the popular tourist attraction.

Museum spokeswoman Wendy Treinen says preliminary estimates are that damage and cleanup costs will reach into the millions of dollars. She says the museum is closed until further notice.

During the flooding, museum workers formed a chain to rescue trophies, bridles, paintings, scrapbooks and archives from the rising water. Among the items that workers frantically rescued were jockey Bill Shoemaker's collection of trophies, scrapbooks and other memorabilia.