LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY

Households in Brechin in despair as flood prevention efforts fail and some fear they will be out of their homes permanently

- SALLY HIND

FLOOD-HIT Scots have demanded urgent support in the aftermath of Storm Babet, as the £500million clean-up operation gets underway. 

Inca Maguire, 20, watched helplessly as water poured into the house she had worked to buy and renovate in Brechin, smashing the windows and not stopping until it reached almost the top of her front door.

The former youth Olympics gold medallist said desperate efforts to protect her home were all in vain after multi-million-pound flood defences failed spectacularly amid a rare “danger to life” weather warning on Friday – leaving devastating damage.

Inca said she had received “no support or guidance at all” over the future of her property, while countless others now face spending Christmas homeless.

First Minster Humza Yousaf visited the Angus town yesterday to pledge help in the aftermath of the storm, which left three people dead and is estimated to be one of the costliest weather events in Scottish history.

Yousaf assured residents that the local council would receive the funding it needs to recover, but warned it will be a “long road to recovery”.

Inca, a wedding and events planner, said: “When the river burst its banks it knocked down the garden wall and within an hour it was in the house and half way up the windows.

“When the power went out, the generators stopped and the pumps stopped working. The council had no back-up for that so it just felt like we were fending for ourselves. We were helpless. The windows smashed then it all just all went to pot.

“The amount of damage was devastating.