There are flooding fears in east Perthshire tonight after the Alyth Burn burst its banks.
The town, which was struck down by a serious flood in 2015, is again under siege after a weekend of heavy and persistent rainfall.
The River Track flood monitoring scheme implemented last year gave an amber alert at 3pm on Sunday, October 31.
Shortly afterwards water from the nearby burn caused disruption in the Town Square, forcing the closure of the Co-op.
Criticism was levelled at Perth and Kinross Council, the police and fire department – none of whom had arrived by 4.30pm, 90 minutes after the banks had burst.
The main concern for property was for the residents of Johnshill Road.
‘It’s going to get worse’
Christopher Leighton, team leader at the Alyth Co-op, said: “The burn’s been overflowing from the heavy rain. It’s been coming down from the hills slowly all day and has been getting progressively worse.
“At 3pm-ish everything hit. We were told there had been an amber alert so it was all hands on deck.
“We are actually quite lucky because we put the sandbags out just before the amber alert came out
“I am glad we did or we could have been in trouble.”
“We mobilised everyone,” he added.
“People who weren’t working today came in to give us a hand.
“Folk stayed longer than they should have to make sure everything was alright
“I reckon it’s going to get worse as it’s due to rain more today and we’ve not seen all the water come from the hills. Hopefully it won’t burst on the other side of the burn.
“That happened with the first flood [in 2015] but hopefully that won’t happen again.
“The council and fire brigade have been notified that there’s a flood but we’ve had no support from either of them.”
‘There’s no fire department here to help us’
John Gaffney, of the Alyth flood responders team, was voluntarily helping advise motorists near the Town Square.
“I’m doing traffic control and what I have got to ask is where are the police in this situation?
“There’s no fire department here to help us because at the Co-op we’ve had to deliver 40 sandbags.
“I know Springbank Road have had no sandbags. What I want to see is the council here to help with that.”
‘The water is coming down and is a danger’
Iain Donaldson, chairman of Alyth Community Council, said: “The burn itself is actually doing very well. It is flooding over to where it should be.
“The big problem is Johnshill Road. It’s going up that road and going down Airlie Street, into The Square and outside Co-op.
“The council has down some work up there but not sufficient to stop the water coming down in this volume.
“They have to stop the water way further up and allow it to be held up for a further length of time
“The water is coming down and is a danger but you have to stop the water coming down Johnshill Road in the first place.”
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