A pair of American holidaymakers had to be rescued by boat from their stranded hire car as Storm Babet battered Coupar Angus.
David and Scott Johnson were caught out as the River Isla burst its banks, engulfing fields and roads.
The father and son’s Mercedes became trapped in a large puddle that had formed across the A923 Coupar Angus-Blairgowrie road.
Water then started rising rapidly through the floor of the vehicle.
The pair decided to flee the SUV and wade to higher ground by the roadside before being rescued by boat around 15 minutes later.
David and Scott returned to the scene of the drama on Saturday.
Lawyer David, from Kansas City, Missouri, told The Courier they were grateful to everyone who had helped get them to safety.
Coupar Angus locals aided Storm Babet rescue
“We’d been trying to get to Edinburgh for our flight home when we came down the road and saw the water,” he said.
“We made it for a while, and then the car stalled.
“We sat there at first. But the water was slowly getting higher. And then it started coming through the floor.
“That’s when we started getting concerned and we thought we’d better get out just in case.”
The pair fled the car with just the clothes they were wearing.
“We got to the bank and were standing in the current for about 15 minutes,” David went on.
“There were a crowd of people watching and I think someone must have got hold of the rescue people.
“They got us out by boat. Everything we had was in the car at that point.”
Storm Babet flooding begins to ease around Coupar Angus
The road was still closed on Saturday, more than 24 hours after the river broke its banks.
However, the flood water had subsided by several feet, and the pair returned to the scene after an unexpected night in the Red House Hotel.
Scott was able to wade back across the puddle to start retrieving their belongings from the car.
He returned with one suitcase on his shoulders, and was setting off for the next items when a tow truck arrived.
The driver brought Scott and the remainder of their sodden gear to dry land on the Coupar Angus side of the puddle.
By then, a local man had volunteered to drive the pair to Perth, where they hoped to catch a bus or train to Edinburgh Airport in time for their rescheduled flight.
Another had turned up offering them food and drink.
David, a keen bagpiper, said the pair had been touched by the kindness they had been shown in Coupar Angus, despite all Storm Babet had thrown at them.
“I was here in 1986 and 1983,” he said.
“This is the first time for my son.
“I’m not sure we were ready for this. But I hope we’ll be back.”
Nearby Meigle battered by flooding
A supermarket lorry became stuck in the same flooding on Friday and was towed to safety after several attempts.
A number of other roads in the area remained closed on Saturday.
The B954 Meigle to Alyth route was among the worst affected.
Another stranded car was still stuck in the middle of what looked like a lake.
It appeared to be wedged across the submerged road with its rear window open.
Some homes in nearby Meigle were flooded. The local resilience team were distributing sandbags and helping to pump water out of properties.
Free food for flood-hit Alyth residents
In Alyth, a catering van sent by SSE was dishing out free burgers and chips to locals hit by power cuts.
A large crowd queued for food outside the town hall.
They included holidaymakers Margaret and Rachel Marsh, from Yorkshire, who were visiting relatives in Alyth.
“We weren’t flooded but we’ve been helping out today,” said Rachel.
“We had been due to go home, but we took some milk to people and we’ve been mopping out my sister’s friend’s house.”
The town was put on alert on Thursday night as the Alyth burn rose rapidly and spilled over the flood defences.
But locals said the measures, installed a few years ago, had done their job and by Saturday the water levels had fallen considerably.
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