Victims of the flood waters

weekend. The heaviest ever recorded rainfall in Strathclyde left many

homes under several feet of water and caused millions of pounds worth of

damage. Scots MPs are demanding the flooding be declared a national

disaster.

Police were last night searching for two young men who were inside a

car which was swept away in the swollen River Kelvin at Twechar,

Dunbartonshire. A spokesman said there was ''grave concern for their

safety''.

The car was at the Gavell Bridge when it apparently hit something and

went into the river. It is understood the bridge may already have

collapsed by the time the vehicle approached.

A third man who was in the car managed to escape and raise the alarm.

The state of the river was too dangerous for police divers, and a

helicopter from the HMS Gannet base at Prestwick was scrambled to assist

in the search. There was still no trace of the car or the two men last

night.

Police said there had been a report of shouts about a mile and a half

downstream from the accident in the early evening, but efforts to find

their source proved fruitless. They also revealed the road leading to

the bridge had been declared closed at about 3pm, an hour and a half

before the car went into the river.

Police in Dumfries last night called off a search for a man last seen

in the River Nith. The sighting, in the swollen river at Devorgilla

Bridge, was made on Saturday afternoon.

He was named by police as Mr Ian Graham, 35, of East Cluden, Dumfries.

The Nith inshore rescue boat yesterday joined a Royal Navy Sea King

helicopter in the search, but failed to find the missing man.

In Glasgow, the River Kelvin last night burst its banks beside the

Kelvinbridge underground rail station. A police spokesman said: ''There

is some flooding but we understand it is being pumped out and is under

control.''

The Maryhill health centre has been badly flooded and is likely to

remain closed for several days. The GP practices there and the Shawpark

community mental health resource centre will be relocated to Ruchill

hospital.

Elsewhere, scores of people were forced to seek temporary overnight

accommodation in church halls, schools, and community buildings after

evacuating their houses when they became engulfed by the floods.

The worst hit areas were Kirkintilloch, Irvine, Paisley, Johnstone and

Beith. The emergency services were stretched to the limit trying to cope

as many rivers burst their banks following the downpour.

A Strathclyde Fire Brigade spokesman said the service was virtually

helpless, adding: ''There is simply nowhere for us to pump away the

flood water.''

Thousands of homes were also left without power as electricity

sub-stations became submerged under thousands of gallons of water. Power

workers were working frantically last night to try to restore supplies.

Telephone lines were also hit.

The widespread flooding, which also caused major difficulties in the

central Scotland belt and in Perthshire, also disrupted transport as

scores of roads became impassable.

The Kincardine Bridge over the Firth of Forth was closed because of

flooding on the southern approach road. Police have warned motorists the

bridge would stay closed, but the situation would be reviewed this

morning.

Rail services across the West of Scotland were also severely

disrupted, and ScotRail was eventually forced to cancel many train

journeys.

For many rail passengers yesterday the misery was further compounded

when, their journeys blocked by flooded tracks, they turned to buses:

which in turn were blocked by flooded roads.

ScotRail said services on the Clyde coast were badly hit as were the

Edinburgh-Glasgow journeys and rail routes into Glasgow from northern

Scotland.

A spokesman warned last night that the flooding was so severe that it

could not guarantee any of the services on the ScotRail network today.

He urged passengers to check with their local stations and make only

essential journeys.

''We are advising passengers to check before they travel -- or better

still, not to travel at all if they don't have to,'' said a spokesman

for ScotRail, which has set up an information line -- 041 335 4360.

As the rainfall forced the closure of scores of roads throughout

Strathclyde, the RAC and the Automobile Association both confirmed they

were struggling to cope.

Ms Sue Nicholson, RAC spokesperson in Scotland, said additional

patrols had been called in but there was still a four-hour waiting time.

Flood alerts were made early yesterday morning when the River Cart

overflowed its banks in the south Glasgow suburbs of Cathcart and

Langside.

The heavy rainfall forced 37 elderly residents of Glendale Nursing

Home in Barrhead to be evacuated to a local hospital.

Scores of families in the Hayston housing estate in Kirkintilloch had

to flee their homes after they became submerged in three feet of water

after the River Kelvin burst its banks.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in the Ferguslie

Park, Stockholm Crescent and Barterholm Road areas of the town. Most of

them were last night understood to be staying with relatives.

Some elderly people and children left their homes by windows before

clambering aboard boats operated by emergency services.

A major rescue operation was also mounted in the Waterside area of

Irvine after high tides coupled with heavy rain and gales caused the

River Irvine to rise up to six feet in places and burst its banks.

Lifeboat crews joined coastguard personnel and the emergency services as

they attempted to bring dozens of people marooned in their homes to

safety.

One woman in her eighties, suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and due

to enter residential care today, had to be taken by stretcher on a

dinghy to a waiting ambulance.

It emerged last night that a contract has been placed to improve flood

prevention on the river by upgrading the weir and placing gambions and

walls at the most vulnerable points on the river.

Strathclyde claimed that a #4m flood barrier scheme for Pollok, which

is due to be inaugurated this week, proved its worth despite the fact

that scores of families had to be evacuated after the Levern Water

overflowed.

A spokesman said the area where the flooding took place was low-lying

and not part of the scheme. He claimed that the difficulties arose

because the sewers could not cope.

Glasgow Weather Centre warned last night that there could be more rain

on the way, following the record-breaking 24 hour downfall between

Saturday and Sunday. Nearly three inches of rain fell over the period,

more than an inch above the previous December record.

A fleet of ambulances ferried 22 people to hospital, five of whom were

detained, when a bus-load of late-night revellers was in collison with a

car in heavy rain at Lower Cullernie near Inverness early yesterday

morning. Firemen had to cut two people free from the wreckage.

Meanwhile, three Scots MPs are seeking a meeting today with Scottish

Secretary Ian Lang to demand the Government picks up the bill for the

flood damage which has hit their Renfrewshire constituents.

Mr Gordon McMaster, Paisley South; Mrs Irene Adams, Paisley North; and

Mr Tommy Graham, Renfrew West and Invercylde, will also demand an

emergecy debate in the Commons this week in an attempt to win

compensation for victims.

Mr McMaster said: ''We are seeing scenes of total devastation. There

are people here who have lost everything. The emergency services cannot

cope because of the scale of the problem.''

He added: ''We want this declared a national disaster so that aid and

support can be flown in from every part of the United Kingdom.''

The MPs also want the Government to fund a massive flood prevention

scheme for the three rivers in the region: the Clyde, the Black Cart and

the White Cart. ''For many people in this area, this is the fourth time

they have been flooded out,'' said Mr McMaster.