A family from Perth who were flooded out by the rainstorm that hit on September 8 want Perth and Kinross Council to act now so the misery is not repeated.
Samantha and Richard Lamond, both 39, and their two children have been living in temporary accommodation since the ground floor of their home in Croft Park was wrecked by floodwater and sewage.
The deluge on Thursday, September 8 was the third time their home had been flooded in just over two years. In August 2020 they had to go into temporary accommodation for four months. Now they have had to move out again.
Several houses at Croft Park, beside the Craigie Burn near the South Inch park, were swamped with water prevented from draining away by the city’s flood gates.
The residents face the impossible dilemma of being at risk of rising water if the flood gates are open and also if the flood gates are closed.
On September 8 water flooded over a wall and into the garden at Sam and Richard’s house so that there was a metre of water up against the conservatory glass.
Pictures of their garden show the legs of their trampoline submerged with the water nearly reaching the bounce pad.
“I live with my husband and our two daughters who are 10 and seven,” explained Sam, a solicitor.
“We have lived here for just over seven years.
“In August 2020 we got flooded and had to move out. We stayed with family for four months.
“We did a lot of work and only got back in the house in December 2020.
“This time it is mostly furniture ruined. All of the furniture downstairs needs binned.
“Yes, we were insured but I’m not sure how long we will be able to keep getting insurance. We had to move out and right now, nearly two weeks on, we are living in an AirBnb.”
On September 8, Richard, a self-employed roofer, watched in horror as muddy water built up where flood gates blocked the way of the Craigie Burn.
He told the PA: “The drains couldn’t cope, they burst and flooded the path alongside the burn. The gates stop the water getting away.
“The water can’t go anywhere so it floods our gardens and houses. The water surrounds the houses and comes up through the solum.”
Sam described the damage.
“Inside our whole ground floor was flooded,” she said.
“I think the water is a mix of sewage and rain water.
“We have been flooded by the Craigie Burn before and had a non-return valve from Scottish Water which is designed to keep water from coming in from the toilet and shower.
“But a few weeks ago Scottish Water shut it off as they said it needed replacing and we have not heard from them since. They actually just switched it off and told our neighbour, didn’t leave us a note or anything.”
Her valve was faulty and Scottish Water isolated it so her electrics didn’t keep tripping. The repair/replacement hasn’t been done. Sam believes this was meant to be done almost as an emergency as it is an essential part of their drainage system.
She says she has been frozen out by Perth and Kinross Council.
Sam said: “The council just keep saying it’s our responsibility to protect against flooding. We have flood walls, air vent covers, so many sandbags and pumps.”
Sam showed the PA a letter from the interim flood manager with Perth and Kinross Council.
The letter offered to take feedback from people hit by flooding with their input contributing to the Craigie Burn Flood Risk Survey.
She added: “There are lots more people locally who get impacted who have contacted me.
“This was the third time we’ve been flooded in just over two years.
“In August 2020 I had to wake my kids from their beds in the middle of the night and pass them over to my neighbour, we had no warning and we lost so much.
“We moved out that night in August and managed to get back in December due to our amazing tradespeople, we were four months out of our home.
“When it happened two years ago I complained to Perth and Kinross Council and I was fobbed off with excuses and passing the buck, told it was a one off phenomenon. I bought this, I was nice and polite and made changes to our house to protect us in the future.
“But here we are two years later and despite massive efforts on our part and the help of our friends and family we couldn’t hold off the massive amount of water.
“The council keep saying it’s the homeowners responsibility to protect their property and we did, but we can’t protect it from all the rain water in Perth.
“I had to watch my husband cry in my daughter’s bedroom because once again we watched their rooms, their clothes and their special stuff get ruined. All you want in life is for your children to feel safe and secure.
“We are now out again and who knows when we will get home.”
Sam said she was telling her story “not for sympathy but to get other people’s stories so when we meet the council, Scottish Water and councillors, I am prepared.”
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “The intense rainstorm that hit Perth, and particularly the vicinity of the Craigie Burn, on September 8 rapidly exceed the capacity of all urban drainage systems – including road gullies, surface water pipes, combined sewers and confined or culverted watercourses.
“A specialised pumped non-return valve had been installed at Mr and Mrs Lamond’s home to provide protection from flooding via the property’s own drains.
“One of Scottish Water’s contractors identified a fault with the automatic pump function on the non-return valve while carrying out routine maintenance in early August. We will follow this up with Mr and Mrs Lamond directly to ensure the fault with the pump is rectified.
“While the non-return valve offers protection from flooding via internal drains in bathrooms or the kitchen, unfortunately this would not have prevented flooding via overland flows of stormwater or via the solum in the context of the extreme weather event that affected the area on September 8.”
Sam's neighbour, Morag Fielding is a registered childminder.
"I have a layer of silt over my garden which I’ve been advised may be contaminated and also over my garden toys which means I cannot use my garden. As a registered childminder, this has quite an impact on the service I provide to the children in my care," Morag told the PA.
"Both Scottish Water and PKC have been absolutely no help, both saying it’s not their fault so they cannot help me by decontaminating my garden.
"I understand that many people have been much more severely affected than me but I feel that both organisations are just passing the buck."
Another Croft Park resident, Janice Haig’s garden was flooded under 70cm of water and some ingress.
Mum Janice (49) married to driver Rob (50), live with their older children - chemist Jen (25) and student Scott (16).
Janice explained: “On the Thursday we came close to the ground floor flooding again - we were safe by less than the depth of the joists.
“We have not had to move out but we had a lot of mopping up to do.
“Water was in the conservatory, back hall, front porch, boiler room and bathroom.
“In the bathroom it came up the shower drain and in all other spaces it was around the door seals.
“We have lost a few electrical garden tools, towels, doormats, rugs, a mobility scooter.
“We are hoping to save the flooring we put down in July last year after the flooding in 2020. If not, that will increase our losses.
“We’ve probably lost between £1000 and £2000 of belongings.”
Janice emphasised the issue was not so much the material lost but how the risk of flooding made everyone at Croft Park feel: “It’s the constant worry and the heightened anxiety when heavy rain is forecast.
“Along with that, there’s the frustration that PKC and Scottish Water know about our situation - that is the worst.
“A flaw in the design of the flood defences has contributed greatly to us flooding on several occasions.
“Under our floor and the garden have been flooded multiple times over the last 11 years but it has definitely gained in frequency and severity over the last few.”
Janice added: “We can’t keep going through this every time it rains heavily and we can’t wait a year for the findings of the survey and several more years for any recommendations to be costed, funds found and action taken.
“The flood in August 2020 was a ‘one in more than 100 year event’, the one last week was the same. Twice in two years.
“I have had meetings with Cllr Willie Wilson, PKC, Scottish Water and SEPA stretching back 10 years - this is not a new problem.
“Every time the weather forecast shows ‘green, yellow or white rain’ (colours depicting really heavy rain on the weather map) or an extended period of ‘dark blue rain’ we start to worry.
“We put the air vent covers on and get pumps and sand bags prepared.
“We dread heavy rain. After flooding in August 2020 our insurance claim was around £35,000 and the price of our home insurance almost quadrupled to just under £1000 a year.
“On that occasion the floodgates on the path between Glenearn Road and the South Inch were not closed so we got floodwater from the Inch and burn, the sewer, the torrent coming down Queen Street and the rain.
“This time, the gates were shut but that doesn’t help us - water always backs up in front of floodgates and this time, before the flood wall was breached, water poured over a small wall (now damaged due to the force of the water) and flooded our garden.
“If the floodgates are closed, we flood and if left open, we flood.
“PKC have known for years why my house and Sam’s flood - I have an email from years ago agreeing with us that surface water backing up behind the floodgates, the sewers not being able to cope and the burn itself (on some occasions one of them on other occasions all) cause the flooding of our property.
“PKC don’t need the Craigie Burn Flood Survey to tell them and us the cause.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “Flooding is becoming an increasing problem across Scotland, where SEPA estimates around 284,000 homes, businesses and services are at risk of flooding. Severe weather events are also becoming more frequent because of climate change.
“Although it is not possible to prevent flooding entirely, Flood Risk Management (FRM) Plans are in place to manage the risk of flooding across communities.
“The first cycle of these FRM Plans covered 2016 to 2022. Following public consultation, the council is currently drafting its second cycle of Local FRM plans for the next six years ahead of publication in December.
“This is a long-term approach, focussing on the areas of highest flood risk, and work will continue in six-year cycles to address other areas.
“The Tay FRM Plan and Local FRM Plan include actions to manage the risk of flooding in Perth. Amongst the various actions in these plans, the council is progressing the Craigie Burn Flood Study and is developing a Surface Water Management Plan for Perth.
“Consulting engineers, Amey, have been engaged to carry out this work which will continue into next year.
“The council circulated questionnaires to residents at the end of 2021/early 2022 to allow them to input to this study work.
“These projects will develop our understanding of river flood risk on the Craigie Burn and surface water flood risk across Perth and will consider potential actions for managing and, where achievable, reducing that flood risk.
“Such projects take a long time to come to fruition, and any new measures to manage the risk of flooding, such as new flood defences, require a long process of design, statutory approvals and procurement prior to construction.
“Funding also requires to be secured and the on-going study work will support this process.
“The council has allocated capital funding to flood schemes currently proposed for Comrie, Milnathort and South Kinross as well as for on-going flood study work and maintenance works. Advance works on the Comrie flood protection scheme started last month.
“The Scottish Government and COSLA are currently reviewing capital funding for cycle 2 flood schemes including those in Scone, Bridgend, Pitlochry, Aberfeldy and Blackford.
“The current process for securing capital funding for new schemes requires a flood study to be completed and then for the scheme to be prioritised and included within a published FRM Plan.
“As the studies for Perth have not been concluded yet, no capital funding has been set aside for these projects.”
