A man says “30 years of married life has been destroyed” at his Dundee home as the devastation of Storm Babet flooding is laid bare.
Residents at Heron Rise in Claverhouse were forced to flee their homes and others were left trapped when extreme rainfall hit on Friday.
Firefighters eventually came to the aid of residents left marooned when the Dighty Burn burst its banks.
Locals have since returned to see the destruction caused by the floods with many homes destroyed.
Gordon Hunter and wife Alison found sodden flooring, wrecked furniture and destroyed electricals at their home.
Gordon told The Courier: “We knew there was a red warning in place, and we’ve had this before, so we had sandbags around the side of the house.
“But it’s turned out much much worse than we could have ever imagined.
“The impact along this street has been as bad as Brechin on a smaller scale.
“Everyone probably thought it would just be the same as usual, but it turned out much, much worse.
“There’s over 30 years of married life in that house totally destroyed.”
Pensioner won’t return to Heron Rise home after flooding
June Reid, 83, was first helped upstairs by neighbours in the early hours of Friday when the water began to rise.
Fire crews later came to her rescue by boat.
She told The Courier: “I really just don’t know where to start, it’s heartbreaking.
“Never in a million years did I expect it to get as bad as it did.
“I remember seeing the blue flashing lights at around 5am, it was terrifying.”
June, who has moved in with her daughter now, added: “I don’t know what to do, the downstairs is totally destroyed.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be back in the house – I can’t go through all this again.
“It’s such a shame because everyone on the street is lovely, I’m going to miss the neighbours.”
Frank Smith was one of the Heron Rise residents forced to leave his home on Friday.
The 66-year-old has been staying with his sister in Piperdam since but expects it to be at least six months before he is able to move home.
He said: “It’s absolutely devastating what has happened.
“We’ve had water up to the front gate before but never anything like this.
“It was halfway up the stairs in the house.
‘There’s over £200k of damage to our home alone’
“The whole row of cars along the street is written off.
“There’s got to be over £200k worth of damage to our home alone. We’re currently waiting to hear back from our insurance.
“What’s happened here is horrendous.”
Elsewhere, streets in Invergowrie have been left caked in mud and cars written off after the flooding.
It is thought Storm Babet will be among the most expensive Scottish weather events in history.
Conversation