A major incident has been declared in Fife this morning following a night of severe weather.
Fife’s Local Resilience Partnership has activated and multi-agency resources are providing assistance to communities, following a number of incidents across the Kingdom.
This includes a major landslide at Pettycur Bay Holiday Park, where 28 people had to be rescued in the early hours.
In total 218 people were also assisted from their caravans overnight. Emergency accommodation was identified and the landslide is being assessed this morning.
Police, fire and council services are working together to deal with flooding issues in Freuchie, Cairneyhill, Cardenden, Kinglassie, Culross and Lochgelly.
As a result, a number of road closures are in place and local diversions are in operation.
A number of people have been evacuated from their homes, and various schools and roads are closed across the Kingdom. The main East Coast rail line is also closed due to the landslide.
Chair of Fife’s LRP Superintendent Sandy Brodie commented: “Public services are working together to deal with this incident and taking guidance from public health to make sure all current guidance is being followed when supporting those affected.
“I want to reassure residents that we are working to get services back up and running as quickly as possible and will continue to monitor the situation. In the interim, I would ask people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.”
Authorities confirmed at around 4.30pm that the major incident was now over, with flood water receding across the region.
Mr Brodie said “significant” resources from Police Scotland, Fife Council, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and SEPA had been deployed across the kingdom to deal with a range of issues that arose from heavy rainfall.
Many of the initial emergency responses were being stood down, although a number of local road closures and diversions may still be in place.
The public are advised to check the Traffic Scotland website before embarking on any journeys to or from affected areas.
“I want to thank all of those who have been involved in the LRP response to the severe weather,” he added.
“Your efforts have resulted in the de-escalation of this major incident and normality has started returning to many of the impacted communities.
“Events like this demonstrate the importance of swift and collaborative action by all of the LRP’s member agencies and I am delighted to confirm that we have not received any reports of any casualties as a result of the landslides and flooding we experienced.
“I also want to thank the public in Fife for their support and patience while we addressed these issues safely, while also following all relevant guidance from public health, so as to ensure we were taking all the necessary steps to safely support those affected.”
