A combination of melting snow and heavy rain resulted in flooding chaos throughout Perthshire at the weekend.
Roads were closed, communities cut off and several homes flooded as the rising temperatures caused a dramatic overnight thaw.
The situation was so dire that a multi-agency group was hastily convened at Tayside Police Western Division headquarters in Perth.
From there, senior representatives from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Perth and Kinross Council, Tayside Fire and Rescue and the police organised a major emergency operation across the area.
Ninety calls were received in 24 hours as people became ever more anxious about rising water levels.
Community safety inspector Ian Scott told The Courier, “The whole area has suffered significant surface water and flooding issues.
“Most of our calls were from trapped motorists and occupiers concerned with flooding to premises.”
He added, “We hope the weather will continue to clear up, but we will stay here at divisional headquarters until 6pm and monitor the circumstances.
“The vast majority of snow melt has completed and we are hopeful that we can return straight to normality very, very soon.”
As part of efforts to help those hardest hit, the multi-agency group set up a prioritised response to send out their “limited” resources to the worst-affected communities.Call to Resilience RoomVital support was given to a number of areas, including Aberuthven, Almondbank, Bankfoot, Glendevon, Glenfarg, Grange, Perth and Stanley, where properties have been flooded.
Two water pumps battled to prevent further properties being flooded at Grange on Sunday, while sandbags and aqua sacks were also provided.
In the aftermath of the flooding, environment minister and Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham visited the emergency operations centre at Barrack Street.
She, along with representatives from the multi-agency group, held a conference call with the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room to give assurances that everything possible was being done.
Ms Cunningham said, “Obviously there are still issues, but we won’t know until later what the final outcome will be as there are still communities at risk.
“The control centre was operating all the way through the night to ensure that the fire service, police and local authority were co-ordinating to ensure that the response was as fast as it could be.”
She added, “I think people will realise that there has been a huge thaw of ice right across the whole of Perthshire, rather than any single incident.”
Ms Cunningham said that First Minister Alex Salmond was “satisfied” that the various groups were doing everything they could to resolve the situation and provide support to locals.
“He certainly likes to be kept informed and given complete information.”
However, the massive thaw proved to be too much for some drainage systems, with the roads network left in disarray as routes throughout the region were left under water, with the A85 between Perth and Methven closed for most of Saturday, only opening late Sunday morning, while other roads were passable with care.
On the A9 northbound at Cairnie Braes, motorists described the inside lane as being like “a river,” with vehicles being directed onto the passing lane by safety signage.
The roadway at the Vector Aerospace site, on the outskirts of Almondbank was more suitable for boats than cars, as the water reached critical levels.
As a result, police were advising locals not to drive unless their journey was absolutely necessary and to approach any water on the road with care.
The efforts of the council’s hired plant were diverted from snow-clearance to help with flooding.
Firefighters were also left battling major flooding on Back Street in Bridge of Earn as the water gushed over the crossing onto Old Edinburgh Road.
At least two gardens on Back Street were left knee-deep in water as several hoses and pumps struggled to alleviate the situation.
Patricia Bellis was surprised to wake up on Sunday to see the River Earn bursting its banks into a nearby garden.
She said, “I went to bed quite late and when I woke up in morning, I could hear the pumps from the fire brigade.
“I just couldn’t believe how bad it had gotten overnight.”
A resident of Earnbank Retirement Home, Mrs Bellis praised the flood defence system installed in 2004.
By Saturday evening, SEPA had issued severe flood warnings on nine stretches of river within Perth and Kinross.
However, by Sunday this had fallen to five severe warnings on the rivers Tay, Earn, Tummel and Isla, although levels remained high at Perth Harbour.