Severe weather causes damage and travel chaos

Senior News Reporter

Wednesday 26 September 2012

SEVERE weather caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage to property, left 120 ferry passengers stranded for hours, cut power to 200 homes and caused rail and road disruption across the country.

DISRUPTION: High winds and flooding lashed Scotland.

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BRIAN DONNELLY

The Scottish Government called a weather crisis committee meeting after the first major storm of the autumn as some areas where hit with 2.5in of rainfall in 36 hours.

Homes and businesses were flooded in East Lothian, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was closed as trees were damaged across the capital and up and down the east coast, closing a number of roads.

Aberdeen suffered some of the strongest winds and rain, with the most spectacular damage appearing at Footdee, where workers battled through waist-deep foam thrown over the walled defences from the violent North Sea.Coastguard volunteer Michael Cowlam, of Seacroft Marine Consultants Limited, which is based in the Footdee, said: "It's the first time I've ever seen anything that bad before. We've obviously had sea spray coming over the wall before, but we've never had foam. We knew we were going to get stormy weather, but we didn't think we'd get anything like this."Elsewhere in Aberdeen a tree hit a bus, and east coast cross-border train services were cancelled at one stage. Ferries were also halted on some routes.A CalMac ferry carrying 120 passengers from Craignure on Mull to Oban, which normally takes 45 minutes, arrived six hours later after being unable to berth in the high winds.A CalMac spokesman said: "Due to very strong winds gusting up to 70 mph in and around Oban Bay the MV Isle of Mull was unable to berth at Oban and the conditions also prevented her returning to Craignure." The ferry eventually berthed at 5.45pm. The firm's spokesman added: "We did everything we could to keep passengers comfortable, including providing meals and drinks, and keeping them fully informed of the situation."There was widespread disruption on other CalMac routes including Stornoway to Ullapool and Islay and Arran.The River Tyne burst its banks in Haddington and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency put out flood alerts for much of the Borders. Alerts were also in place for Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Fife.Extensive damage caused to the assembly hall roof of Portobello High School prompted local MSP and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to call for action. He said: "It is simply unacceptable for over 1300 kids to be taught in a building that is quite literally collapsing around them."The school was closed while the site was made safe.About 2000 households across a number of areas, including Tayside and Midlothian, were without power.Meanwhile, an art exhibition – called the River Inside – at Peter Potter Gallery in Haddington was flooded just days before the official opening on Friday, while East Coast Trains' flagship Flying Scotsman service limped as far as Berwick before being cancelled and reversed. Passengers, who had paid a minimum £92 fare, had to endure a three-hour round trip back to Edinburgh. Veteran banker Sir Angus Grossart was among dozens of passengers arriving back into Waverley Station. He said: "It's a long way to go for a bacon roll."Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "We have seen a wide range of agencies and organisations react quickly to weather alerts."

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Severe weather causes damage and travel chaos

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