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GAYLE RITCHIE: ‘What if my house floods again?’- My fears in Storm Babet aftermath

Brechin hit the headlines - but other areas of Angus including little-known Kinnettles were badly hit by severe flooding during Storm Babet.

Courier writer Gayle Ritchie and her dog Toby have been staying at her mum's in Aberdeenshire full-time since Storm Babet flooded her Angus home in October 2023. Image: Gayle Ritchie.
Courier writer Gayle Ritchie and her dog Toby have been staying at her mum's in Aberdeenshire full-time since Storm Babet flooded her Angus home in October 2023. Image: Gayle Ritchie.

I don’t live in Brechin – I live about 17 miles away in the Kinnettles area of Angus – but my cottage flooded during Storm Babet.

It sits near the Kerbet Burn, normally a shallow, calm body of water – but one that turned into a raging torrent during that fateful weekend.

Six months on, after furniture and white goods have long been skipped, floorboards have been ripped up, and a cluster of industrial driers have been installed, it’s been issued with a “drying certificate”.

A few months after Storm Babet flooded Gayle's house.
Gayle’s kitchen in the process of being dried out.

The next step will see builders carrying out reinstatement work but I have no idea when this might happen.

Green mould appeared

It’s been a stressful time. In the immediate aftermath of the flood, I tore up sodden carpets and watched as green mould appeared on some furniture and wooden floorboards buckled and warped.

Mould appeared on a foot stool a few days after the floods of Storm Babet.
Mould appeared on a foot stool a few days after the floods of Storm Babet.

Compared with folk in Brechin, though, I’ve been let off lightly. I had no mud in my house.

I’ve been staying with my mum in Aberdeenshire, with the odd overnight in hotels when I need to be down Tayside way.

I have absolutely no idea when I’ll be able to return to my house and await the next steps.

Sodden floorboards, flood-damaged goods and sand bags piled up outside Gayle’s house.

My fear, like that of many others, is – what if this happens again? And why would it not?

We’ve endured myriad storms – but what if there’s another one on the scale of Storm Babet?

Could dredging the burn be an option?

Nobody has mentioned the possibility of dredging the Kerbet Burn, or whether this is even an option.

The road that was washed away beside my home remains closed and will likely remain that way until goodness knows when.

This road in the Kinnettles area was washed away by the Kerbet Burn flooding during Storm Babet. It remains closed - and in a terrible state - more than six months on. Image: Gayle Ritchie.
This road in the Kinnettles area, normally used by vehicles, was washed away by the Kerbet Burn flooding during Storm Babet. It remains closed – and in a terrible state – more than six months on. Image: Gayle Ritchie.

I’ve googled flood gates and flood defence mechanisms. But these don’t come cheap – and would they work?

My hope is that someone will come up with a cunning plan.

The road has been closed since chunks of it washed away during the extreme floods in October 2023.
This road in the Kinnettles area of Angus has been closed since chunks of it washed away during the extreme floods of Storm Babet in October 2023. Image: Gayle Ritchie.

If such a plan is to re-build my house on stilts then I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a lottery win…

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