Mind-blowing devastation

Shocked residents return to filthy flood-damaged homes as Bábet clean-up starts

- PAUL CARGILL and JOHN BESLE

SHATTERED residents in the most severely flooded parts of Scotland returned to their homes yesterday to find "mind-blowing" levels of damage, as the clean-up begins in the wake of the ferocious killer Storm Babet.

Angus and Aberdeenshire were severely battered by the winds and rain, and teams are clearing debris from roads, while those hit by flooding are making repairs.

With the sun finally shining, those who live in River Street in Brechin were trying to dry out their sodden homes, as they surveyed the floodwater damage.

Hundreds fled the street and nearby areas when the South Esk river burst its banks and overwhelmed flood defences, sending water pouring into the lower floors of many properties.

David Stewart, 68, was trying to salvage items from the flat he shares with his partner.

He said: "It's just absolutely mindblowing. The devastation looks even worse than I thought.

Brian Petrie, 66, returned to find the lower floor of his house covered in silt and mud, with the carpet squelching as he walked and the fridge upended.

He was in the house as the flooding hit, sheltering upstairs with his 92-year-old mother as water poured in through the letterbox.

She was rescued by Coastguard crews using a dinghy.

Brian said: "The coastguards and paramedics got her down the stairs in a stretcher and took her in a dinghy up to the ambulance.