Perth hit by worst floods in years

Firefighters were scrambled from across Tayside to help deal with the worst floods to hit Perth in many years.

Flooding at the Royal Mail Depot in Feus Road, Perth.

By Eric Nicolson
Published in the Courier : 22.07.10
Published online : 22.07.10 @ 09.40am

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Parts of the city woke up under water as a result of heavy overnight rain and more downpours through Wednesday morning did nothing to improve the situation.

Neil McCuaig tries -- and fails -- to take his car out.

Parts of the city woke up under water as a result of heavy overnight rain and more downpours through the morning did nothing to improve the situation.

Many town centre businesses and homes were badly affected, particularly those with cellars, while Fairfield housing estate was virtually cut off for hours.

Postman Steven Dawson goes above and beyond to get the mail delivered.

As much as 8cm (3in) of rain accumulated in some parts of Perth. Areas of Fife were hit as well, with the burn at Falkland bursting its banks.

Tayside Fire and Rescue control room took countless calls, and appliances from Dundee and other areas were drafted in to help deal with the crisis. Group manager Andy Hermiston said, "All Tayside emergency services have been responding to multiple flooding incidents in central Perth since the early hours of this morning.

Flooding on the rail line viewed from Glasgow Road.

"The multi-agency approach, co-ordinated from Perth Fire Station, has required resources from all agencies in high numbers. Specialist water rescue teams have been deployed to ensure the safety of local residents.

"This is being managed on an incident-by-incident basis with priority given to those most at risk."

Properties on County Place, leading on to South Street, were particularly badly hit, including the Robert Burns Lounge.

Proprietor Kenneth Pearce said, "We've been here since 5.30am -- the water was four feet deep in the cellar. We've lost a lot of our stock but have managed to salvage some of it.

"Everybody's been great helping out, including our neighbours, with five people doing their bit.

"I've got to thank the fire brigade as well -- they've been brilliant. They were here and pumping out water within five minutes.

"Unfortunately all our electrics are down in the cellar. It means some equipment in the bar doesn't work. We don't know the long-term damage yet."

Across the road, A1 Pizza had also needed water pumped out, as had the County Hotel and Harry Esson hairdressers.

At the other end of the road, the manager of Excel Dining was too upset to talk, only saying, "It's been a bad, bad day."

All the wine and other goods that could be saved were brought up from the basement, which was knee deep in water at one point.

A fire and rescue appliance from the Kingsway, Dundee, dealt with this particular incident.

Crew manager Ian Macleod said, "The cellar was up to our knees. Water has been coming from the Tay. I think everywhere with a cellar has been affected."