Storm Babet: Residents living in 'ghost town' fear further floods

Ian Stewart who lives on River Street, standing last year in his home which was is completely ruined by flood water. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

One year on from the devastating floods brought by Storm Babet, communities say they have been left living in a “ghost town” and fear future severe weather could see them forced to flee again with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Some of the worst damage anywhere in the country happened in Brechin in Angus, where 58 homes remain empty after torrential rain and winds saw the region placed under an 18-hour danger-to-life red weather warning.

Angus Council evacuated hundreds of homes and emergency crews deployed boats to search flooded properties after the River South Esk reached record-breaking heights and breached the town’s £16 million flood defences.

Emergency services helping local residents carry their possessions from homes in Brechin, Scotland, as Storm Babet batters the country. Image: PA

Councillors will meet next month to discuss the way forward with local people questioning whether an eventual return to those homes will simply put them at risk of further flood damage in the coming years.

What are the next steps?

We can reveal councillors will be asked to endorse a public consultation to be put to local residents featuring a range of possible options.

These include installing new flood protection measures or heightening the existing system – although this would still not be high enough to protect against flooding as severe as that experienced during Storm Babet.

Other potential strategies include removing the gravel bank at Brechin to water level so as to avoid full dredging, renovating the existing houses or remodelling them – effectively placing them on stilts.

Perhaps the most extreme option would see the properties demolished and all of the residents relocated.

Gavin Nicol is a Conservative councillor in Angus but previously ran a building firm for more than 20 years.

He believes the homes will never be fit for human habitation and fears that if people are returned to them, it will only be a matter of time before they have to be evacuated again.

Nicol said: “When the flooding happened, I remember saying that the folk won’t be back by that Christmas. But they won’t be back by this Christmas either.

“We’re in dire straits. It’s been a year now and it’s like we’re not moving forward.

“These houses have been subject to high water tables and flooding, both of which can cause the foundations to be eroded and can greatly reduce the weight carrying capacity of the foundations.

“The buildings have all been subject to bad flood damage but there’s a possibility they could have structural damage as well.

First Minister visits flood-hit Brechin after Storm Babet. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

“There’s an ongoing argument with SEPA about touching the bed of the river. They’re not keen on dredging so it’s not if there’s going to be another flood, it’s when there’s going to be another flood.

“We can’t be putting folk back in these houses and then bringing them out waist deep in water just with the clothes on their backs.

“We’ll have to wait on the full report coming but as someone who had his own building business, I’d say a lot of these houses could be doomed.

“I would not like to put anybody back in them with the way it is right now.”

‘It’s always in your mind’

Pensioner Ian Stewart and his wife Jane were forced to flee to the emergency centre at Brechin Community Campus when a metre of water flooded into their home.

The 84-year-old retired baker has now returned to the property on River Street but says the area around them has become a “ghost town”.

The couple are struggling to get life back to normal and repairs are still ongoing at their home. They live in constant worry that another flood could set them back yet again.

Ian said: “It’s always in the back of your mind. It’s something we have to live with.

“When you’re younger you’re able to do things but now that I’m my age, I’m not able to do anything at all. I don’t have the energy to stand and I have arthritis in my knees.

“This is the second time we’ve had a big flood in our house. In 2004, it was just up to my knees but it was a metre high in my kitchen this time.”

Ian is back in his home but further repairs are still needed. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

Angus Council received £6.9 million in April from a national scheme designed to help local authorities in the aftermath of emergencies.

Families affected by the storm were also able to apply for £1,500 in lifeline funding from the Scottish Government, while businesses could ask for up to £3,000.

A total of £100,000 was made available to the council through the Scottish Government’s homelessness budget, with a further £95,000 provided for the Brechin post-flood and optioneering report.

The money helped repair the vital Brechin Bridge, which was closed for almost four months due to structural damage.

But there has been consistent frustration over the pace of repairs and the level of help made available.

Former First Minister Humza Yousaf visited Brechin days after Babet struck but we revealed how it took almost a month for a Scottish Government ministerial taskforce set up to help those impacted by the storm to meet for the first time.

By then the patience of former Angus Council chief executive Margo Williamson was stretched beyond breaking point.

At the end of October last year she sent an email to a top government figure raising concerns about the lack of communication or support.