GUNTERSVILLE, Alabama — Clean up efforts continued Monday after storms left several parts of the Tennessee Valley damaged over the weekend, including Marshall County.
Crews worked for two days to clear two huge willow oak trees that were knocked down at the Marshall County Courthouse. The trees stood outside the courthouse for over 100 years.
"In 1919, there were twenty trees planted here on the courthouse property," said Douglas Tree Service Owner Joey Douglas. "Throughout the years, these were the last two remaining standing, and of course now they fell over with the wind storm."
Officials say there has been an uptick in severe weather in the area over the last several years. With significant rainfall and flooding in Marshall County over the past couple weeks, the saturated ground has lead to more, large trees being knocked down.
"There is an uptick in the volume of work to be performed," said Douglas. "A lot of trees that should not fail in a straight line wind event of course are failing."
Crews started cleaning up at the courthouse around 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. When Marshall County Commission Chairman James Hutchinson realized just how big the trees were, he called Douglas Tree Service.
"This is a bigger project than normal. We don't typically do a hundred, a hundred fifty year old trees," said Douglas.
After being involved in the 2011 clean up efforts, Chairman Hutchinson says they've been sure to budget for this kind of severe weather damage.
"I've got courthouse and jail funds I can use or general fund fund balance, either one," said Chairman Hutchinson. "We have insurance also, so it will probably come out of the courthouse and jail funds."
Chairman Hutchinson says the damage has not set courthouse operations back. They will repair the fence and clean up the monuments once the trees are completely removed.
WATCH: Marshall County experiences damage after early morning storm hits the Tennessee Valley