A massive clear-up operation will get under way this weekend after torrential downpours caused widespread devastation in the Perthshire town of Alyth.
A burn which runs through the community burst its banks after a morning of heavy rain, flooding the town centre and washing parked cars down the high street.
Around 90 homes and businesses, including a hotel, shops and a sheltered housing complex, were extensively damaged in the early morning chaos.
Rescue crews used inflatable boats to free people trapped in their buildings around the Market Square area.
The British Red Cross took over the town hall, which became a refugee centre for people forced out of their homes.
It is believed the area flooded within a matter of minutes after fallen trees and other debris clogged up a series of bridges.
College lecturer Andrew Pollack said the ground floor of his James Street home had been devastated.
“Our dog Milly woke us up about 8am,” he said. “She was barking, but it wasn’t a noise I’d heard before.
“My fiance Michelle went downstairs and saw water, but she thought the dog had just peed in the kitchen. But then she opened the curtains and saw that the garden had turned into a river. And within about 25 minutes the whole of downstairs was completely flooded. We had to get out.”
Sandy Sarwar had to be rescued from his shop in the square by firefighters. After several hours holed up in the Premier Store, he was led to safety on a rubber dinghy.
“When we arrived to open up at the back of 6am, everything was fine,” he said. “It only took 10 minutes for the store to be underwater. We ran to shut off the power straight away. The shop’s completely wrecked now.
“It’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.
“And it’s the end of Ramadan too, which makes it all worse for us.”
Butcher Tommy Milligan was led to safety by fire service teams. He was escorted through the water once it reached a safe level.
“The water in the shop just got so high that we had to abandon ship, but by that time we couldn’t get out the door,” he said. “We had to go upstairs and one of our neighbours let us in. When we arrived at about 7.30am the river was quite high, but by about 8.05am our shop was annihilated.”
Firefighters were called to the Alyth area just after 7.20am when reports started coming in from properties in Springbank Road and Bridge Street.
Four fire crews from Blairgowrie, Alyth, Kirriemuir and Dundee as well as two water rescue units were scrambled to the town to assist with evacuations.
They rescued several motorists trapped in their vehicles and used sandbags to divert the water away from homes.
Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said 756 homes throughout the town have been left without power and its engineers are working with emergency services to restore supplies.
A company spokesman said: “A bridge over the Alyth Burn that carried our cables has been washed away. The fire service is assisting our teams by pumping out water.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokeswoman added: “We deployed available resources to assist, but the volume of water meant sandbags were in many instances ineffective.”
Alyth Community Council appealed for donations of clothing for families whose belongings were destroyed in the floods.
Local councillor Dennis Melloy said: “Alyth has had its share of flooding problems in the past, but we’ve never seen anything like this before. The community is really pulling together.”