Hundreds of homes were evacuated after torrential rain hit the Moray area earlier this month.

Prince Charles talked with families who are still homeless during a visit to the 42-bedroom Bishopmill unit, which is housing many of those affected.

Fiona Nicol, 43, and her five-year-old son Dean have seen the cottage they lived in earmarked for demolition after the damage caused.

“This is the fifth time I’ve been flooded because I’m right by the river,” she said.

“It wasn’t actually that bad this time, but the water came up through the floor and my house is going to be demolished.

“It’s really hard but everyone here is in the same boat and they support each other.

“It’s good that the prince has the respect to come and see us.”

Vera Simpson, 74, said: There are some people here who will never get back to their homes and the prince was just talking to them.”

Another resident, Alasdair Anderson, 67, said: “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to my house - there’s just too much damage.

“I’ve not been back since I had to be evacuated in the middle of the night.

“The prince is a great man and its great that he came here to see us.”

Charles is to make a donation to the plight of those flooded through one of his charities, a Palace spokeswoman confirmed today.

Dressed in traditional Highland attire, Charles later visited Burnbank culvert in nearby Fochabers, which got blocked in the floods and saw a nearby road swept away.

He also went into a house at nearby Burnbank which had been affected during the devastation and spoke with the resident.

The visit took about two hours in total.

The rivers Lossie and Spey burst their banks during the floods which brought devastation to Elgin and Fochabres.

Most of the damage was caused when the rains poured on Friday, September 4.

Damage costing thousands of pounds was caused to homes and cars, and some vehicles were left submerged.

Last week Moray Council said a flood relief fund of £22,000 had been launched to help those affected by the water.

The fund, which is run by trustees from local businesses and charitable organisations, as well as councillors from the flooded wards, provided those affected with vouchers for essential household goods.

Similar flooding problems affected Elgin in 1997 and again in 2002.

Some residents have demanded to know why the flood alleviation scheme planned for the town has not yet started.