When heavy rain lashed down at the start of this week, a “river” of water and mud engulfed a Fife business.
At the peak of the flooding eight inches of water lay on the factory floor at Gray Fabrication in Cupar.
All 35 members of staff were sent home, just a few weeks after a similar flooding issue during Storm Babet.
Three days on, and following an extensive clean-up operation, the business only has three of its six workshops operational. The other three remain caked in mud.
Gray Fabrication flooded in 20 minutes
Managing director Matt Shaw said the business will take weeks to recover, with the cost in excess of £100,000.
He said: “It was an incredible amount of water which comes off the road and down into the factory. We were completely flooded within 20 minutes. It was catastrophic.
“We have a lot of big machinery which sits in pits which were all flooded. It’s really frustrating.
“Some of the machines will be out of action for weeks.”
And unlike a previous flooding incident, the business will not be able to make a claim on its insurance.
Mr Shaw continued: “When we had bad flooding a couple of years ago we had to have three motors refurbished, which cost £45,000. It will cost more this time.
“The last time we were insured but when our policy came for renewal, they wanted a £40,000 excess. We couldn’t do that.
“We will have several machines out of action for months, the cost of repairing them, the cleaning costs and the cost of paying workers we’ve had to send home. It will end up costing the business more than £100,000.
“Meanwhile we’re only operating in half the space.”
Business blames Fife Council for flooding issues
Mr Shaw has hit out at Fife Council for failing to maintain gullies – designed to hold water at the side of the A91 road – which are full of leaves, mud and rubbish.
The local authority says gullies in this area have been recently cleared.
The managing director also highlights two pipes underneath the road which spill out water at a tremendous rate onto the road which leads to his factory.
“It’s something the council needs to investigate,” Mr Shaw added.
“I’ve been told these pipes were put in as a temporary measure 15 years ago. They aren’t connected to any drainage system.
“The other issue is the amount of mud and debris coming off the fields (on the other side of the A91) which is clogging up all the drains.
“The council are meant to be sending out drainage experts but this issue needs to be urgently addressed.”
Situation ‘unsustainable’
Gray Fabrication is one of the UK’s leading heavy steel fabrication companies with a long list of successful oil and gas and renewables projects.
It has previously worked on Orbital’s O2 tidal turbine which launched from the Port of Dundee in April 2021.
More recently it has been working for Babcock in Rosyth on its contract to deliver five Type 31 frigates.
Mr Shaw warned the current situation is “unsustainable”.
He said: “This can’t go on. The owners will shut the doors unless this can be sorted – they’ll have to. We can’t work under water. It’s ridiculous.”
Fife Council’s service manager for roads maintenance Bill Liddle said it will investigate the problem.
He said: “The gullies in this area have recently been cleaned as part of our regular maintenance programme and the A91 was cleared again earlier this week.
“Flooding issues can be complex and we will be investigating the cause here to see if there is anything we can do to resolve the situation.”
Conversation