A Dundee man who finished renovating his home just in time for Christmas says it looks like a “war zone” after it was flooded.
Robert Iesan, who spent two years transforming his ground floor flat on Dalmahoy Drive in the Strathmartine area of the city, has been left devastated after it sustained thousands of pounds’ worth of damage during Friday’s extreme weather.
The 44-year-old made a frantic call to Dundee City Council when he first noticed water pooling around his building – but says it took “the best part of three hours” for workers to arrive.
By then it was too late, with water rising through his floorboards and three other properties on the street.
Eventually two fire crews were called to the scene, who managed to pump water away from the homes.
‘It was like living on an island’
Robert said: “I only finished reflooring and refurbishing the flat two weeks ago, just in time to enjoy Christmas.
“Now I have to rip everything apart. The house looks like a war zone.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of money that went into it – I’ve got to start all over again.
“It was absolutely horrendous. The water was not even 10 inches from coming through our living room window.
“It was like living on an island surrounded by the ocean – that’s what it looked from from the windows.”
Robert says he needs to replace the underlay and flooring throughout the whole flat, as well as the new skirting boards and freshly plastered walls.
He has also been forced to throw away ruined furniture.
The flat was also impacted by flooding in February 2021.
Robert, who bought the flat 11 years ago, fears the landscape has been permanently changed by the Kirkwood Homes Fairways development, which was completed this summer.
Robert, who works for the NHS, said: “We’ve never had these things happen.
“Only once they’d changed the landscape and worked on the drainage that had existed did the flooding of our block and the wider area start.”
The housebuilder denies any wrongdoing, saying planning permission was given following consultation with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and Dundee City Council.
A Kirkwood spokesperson said: “All works undertaken within Kirkwood Homes’ Fairways development were carried out and constructed in accordance with the approved planning consent.”
Robert also criticised the council, saying drains in the area were “full to the brim with silt and leaves”, causing blockages.
Dundee City Council responded to ‘huge number of emergency calls’ during flooding
The council says it responded to “a huge number of emergency calls” during last week’s heavy rainfall “as quickly as possible”.
A spokesperson said: “The amount of fallen leaves, combined with the intense rainfall, resulted in a number of gullies across the city becoming blocked.
“The roads maintenance partnership sent a water pump, associated pipework and other resources to Dalmahoy Drive as soon as it was alerted to what was going on there.
“When the scale of the issue on site became clear, staff called on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to help with their efforts.”
School pupils and commuters faced major disruption on Friday as Tayside and Fife was hit by heavy rain.
The Met Office said close to a month’s worth of rainfall hit some areas in just 48 hours.
