COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A crack in a water main caused many residents in the town of Cherokee to be without water for several hours, and schools to be canceled for the day on Wednesday.
The Colbert County EMA/911 Director Michael Smith told News 19 around 6:30 a.m. that the main line from the pumping station to the tank split in the area of Lightfoot Drive. “From what I understand, it is a fairly large leak and has caused the tank to empty completely,” Smith told News 19.
A crack in a water main caused many residents in the town of Cherokee to be without water for several hours, and schools to be canceled for the day on Wednesday. (Photo: WHNT) 
A water main break caused many residents in the town of Cherokee to be without water for several hours, and schools to be canceled for the day on Wednesday. (Photo: WHNT) 
A crack in a water main caused many residents in the town of Cherokee to be without water for several hours, and schools to be canceled for the day on Wednesday. (Photo: WHNT)
Colbert County Schools Superintendent Chris Hand canceled school for students at Cherokee High School and Cherokee Elementary School due to the outage. Local businesses were also affected. City Hall remained open, according to Cherokee Mayor Marcus Rutland.
Crews were able to fix the crack in a few hours, and as of 12:30 p.m., an operator at the Cherokee Water Treatment Plant told News 19 that the water had been ‘flushed’ and residents should be seeing their water pressure return to normal.
The operator did say some residents’ water pressure may still fluctuate through the evening and that water should be “back to normal” by Thursday morning.
