After the rain the … rain?
The rains I reported on last night seem to have caused a lot of disruption around the Inverness-Nairn area, with various reports of localised flooding.
The sheer intensity of rain left some drains unable to cope.
The BBC actually has a lead story on the flash flooding, reporting that the A96 was closed in parts:
Road reopens after flash flooding
The A96 has reopened after it was closed to the east of Inverness due to flash flooding in the area overnight.
Large amounts of silt were washed off neighbouring fields on to the road, leaving some drivers stuck for hours.
Heavy rain hit Inverness and Nairn between 2200 BST and midnight on Thursday.
The fire and rescue service said a number of homes in Nairn suffered damage as a result of the rapid build-up of flood water.
Further flooding was avoided due to staff from Highland Council putting down sandbags and fire crews pumping water out of some areas – including Nairn’s Trades Park Road and Union Street.
The A96 road between the Balloch turnoff and Tornagrain was particularly badly hit.
Diversions were in place during the closure.
Meanwhile, the Gurn provides information for anyone affected by the flooding or needing sandbags to help cope with any waters.
A reminder to be vigilant on drains
This is probably the sort of time when we ask Highland Council about the state of the drains – it wasn’t that long ago that Dingwall suffered flooding because of blocked drains.
And as someone originally from Hull, the catastrophic flood of 2007 still rings clear.
The downpours in Hull were extremely ferocious in the first place – at least 1 in 10 properties were flooded – and even those on hillsides were affected because of the sheer volume of water coming down.
However, the fact that many drains were not clear turned the situation into a tragedy.
Hull is a renown flood risk – sitting in a basin, at some points 10m below sea level, I once couldn’t get home insurance because of the risk of flooding – the whole flood risk issues means that its no accident I now live on top a small hill.
However, all the more reason to be vigilant about flooding risks, and especially keeping drains clear.
Perhaps the accentuated risk of flooding along the Moray Firth area means that the Highland and Moray Councils are particularly vigilant about such issues. I can only hope so.
My brother’s home in Hull was flooded along with thousands of other people. He was a neighbour of the man who drowned, and had tried to save him. It took police counselling afterwards for him to accept he couldn’t have done anything to save him.
More rain is forecast over the weekend, though I suspect it won’t be quite so strong as last night. Even so, there may be a lot of debris and dirt already washed into the drains that needs clearing out, to help ensure they can work at their proper capacity.
UPDATE: STV News covers the story here.
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