Residents in Comrie who have been left struggling following severe flooding will be given the opportunity to get vital help and advice.
The Scottish Flood Forum will help the community living in the Dalginross area of the Strathearn village, who are angry following the River Ruchill bursting its banks on Monday evening.
The River Ruchill is a tributary of the River Earn. Three to four feet of water cascaded over the flood banks, down Camp Road and Barrack Road, with one Camp Road resident having to be taken out of her property by Tayside Fire and Rescue. In addition, one elderly person and a disabled resident were evacuated from their homes in Tay Place.
Around 30 properties were seriously affected, with many residents blaming Perth and Kinross Council for not installing adequate flood defences. As a result, the local authority has confirmed it is to carry out an investigation into the causes of the flooding.
Paul Hendry, director of the Scottish Flood Forum, said ”a solution” needs to be found but stressed that help and advice will be provided.
”I visited the affected residents and we will be setting up a flood forum in the village, offering advice to people there,” he said. ”We hope to have a definite location for this confirmed on Thursday.
”One of the main concerns is the number of elderly people who were affected, with some having to leave their homes. We must make sure that people’s homes are protected from flooding.”
Mr Hendry said he understood that the severe flooding was caused by a combination of the River Ruchill bursting its banks and blocked culverts but he emphasised that answers need to be found.
”We need to find out what precipitated this,” he added. ”It’s important that we get a solution to this so that it does not happen again. I spoke with several of the residents who were affected and you feel a great deal of sadness for them, as many of them are struggling after this flooding. However, hopefully the situation can be sorted.”
Gordon McCartney, of Comrie Community Council, said: ”There is a real feeling of anger about this as the water poured over the present flood banks.
”There have been two hydrology studies undertaken by Perth and Kinross Council but nothing has been done; this looked into further possible flood defences but it depends on how many properties it would affect.”
He continued: ”The problem is that we will have the winter coming soon and when snow melts it causes flooding, so this is really worrying. We had talks with the council when they were here on Tuesday and they have now said they will be carrying out an investigation so we will see what happens.”
Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perthshire and South Kinross-shire, praised the efforts of the emergency services that helped remove some residents for their own safety, and she commented on the role of the Scottish Flood Forum in such situations.
”Anyone who has seen the pictures or film footage available will appreciate how worrying it must have been for local residents,” she said. ”I spoke to a number of people who have already had several offers of accommodation and other assistance from neighbours keen to help out.”
She continued: ”The fortitude being displayed by those whose homes have been flooded is amazing. I really feel for them and I hope that it will not take too long for them to get their homes back to a condition where they can move back in.
”While I was in Comrie, I spoke with folk from the Scottish Flood Forum, who provide recovery support to communities following a flood. One of the things they do is establish community recovery centres providing skilled advice and ongoing support and we discussed possible venues for such a centre.”
The Scottish Flood Forum is an independent organisation that represents the interests of communities and individuals affected by or at risk of flooding.