Working to Prevent Future Flooding in Freuchie

Monthly archives for November, 2009

Happy Birthday

Nov15
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Happy Birthday balloons image
Freuchie Flood Action Group would like to wish the Scottish Flood Forum a Happy Birthday.

It is hard to believe a year has passed since Paul Hendy invited us along to the launch of the Scottish Flood Forum. The Scottish Government has resourced an important and worthwhile project for the hard hit flood victims of Scotland. Paul has been invaluable to us over the last twelve months and we hope our experience and local knowledge has been of some use to him.

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Flood Door Guards Fitted

Nov15
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Following the flood near miss two weeks ago, Freuchie Mill residents have today installed the Floodplan Door System on a number of properties to provide protection from the ingress of flood water via the front and back doors.

Freuchie Mill properties by the Floodplan Door System
Photo: Homes protected by the Floodplan Door System

There are still a couple of private house to be done and Kingdom Housing has informed us they will be fitting Flood Door Guards from Flood Stoppers within the next week or two.

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Flood Watch Issued for Fife

Nov13
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

SEPA has issued a Flood Watch for Fife:

FLOOD WATCH

SEPA Flood Watch icon

This statement was prepared on 13 November 2009 at 6:57 pm.

A FLOOD WATCH has been issued for Fife and Clackmannanshire rivers.

Heavy rainfall is expected this evening and into the early hours of Saturday. 25-30mm is forecast with 50mm possible on high ground.

Localised flooding from surface water and small watercourses is possible.

This FLOOD WATCH is now in force until further notice.

Please continue to keep an eye on the situation in your area and listen to local radio and television for further information.

The heavy rainfall has started in Freuchie. There are going to be a lot of Freuchie residents having a restless night tonight!

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Minister Comments on Flooding

Nov13
2009 Leave a Comment Written by John Thomson

Nearly missed an important Scottish Government press release issued on the 2nd November 2009 following the devastating floods throughout Scotland on the 1st November 2009.

02/11/2009

Commenting on the floods that have hit parts of Scotland over the past 24 hours, Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said:

"Once again we have seen the misery and destruction flooding can cause. Our thoughts are with those whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the overnight floods. I have asked to be kept fully informed of developments and will be keeping in touch with the councils affected. I’d like to thank all those who have again responded so quickly and effectively to minimise the impact of the floods.

24-hour Floodline
0845 988 1188

"Climate change is clearly happening on our doorsteps and flooding events such as these are likely to occur with increasing frequency. Everyone needs to be aware of the increased risks and, as we have seen in the last 24 hours, that doesn’t just apply to those living in areas where there is a history of flooding.

"Through SEPA we are continuing to invest in flood awareness and flood warning schemes to try and minimise the impact flooding has on families and businesses. I launched the latest SEPA awareness campaign only last Friday.

"We also need to take radical steps to tackle our carbon emission levels and to ensure communities get the protection they need, which is why we have recently pushed far-reaching climate change and flooding legislation through Parliament."

See it here.

Fine words and an admirable sentiment but we need to see more funds and thereafter further proactive action out on the frontline of flooding!

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Rain on the Way

Nov13
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

The Met Office has issued a “Flash Warning of severe or extreme weather”:

Rain will spread northwards across southern and central Scotland during this evening and right through into tomorrow morning becoming heavy at times with totals of 25 to 30mm generally but with 50mm possible over the high ground. The public are advised to take extra care and refer to the latest Scottish Environment Protection Agency Live Flood Warning Information.

This warning is in effect from 9pm tonight until 10am tomorrow morning.

SEPA has no flood warning in force for Fife so far.

Standby your sandbag and grab some sleep now!

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Flood Barrier Demonstration

Nov13
2009 2 Comments Written by admin

Freuchie Flood Action Group has organised for Flood Stoppers, a UK flood protection product company, to demonstrate their door flood guard products at 10am on Sunday 15th November 2009 down at Freuchie Mill.

Every one with an interest is welcome to come along.

Please let us know you’re coming so we can gauge numbers.

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Community Council Meeting

Nov10
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

A quick reminder for all those people affected or at risk from the recent flooding events throughout the village; the next Freuchie Community Council meeting is tomorrow (Wed) evening and is open for everyone to attend. Normal community council business begins at 7:30pm. We’re expecting to have quite a chat surrounding the events of the 1st November.

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Rainfall Data for Near Miss

Nov10
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

SEPA has kindly sent us the rainfall data from the Newton of Falkland rain collection station for our near miss event. It makes for some interesting reading, especially when we compare and contrast with previous flood events.

Date

Time

Rainfall
(mm)

01/11/2009

06:00:00

0.6 

01/11/2009

07:00:00

0.8 

01/11/2009

08:00:00

2.4 

01/11/2009

09:00:00

2.6 

01/11/2009

10:00:00

2.6 

01/11/2009

11:00:00

3.4 

01/11/2009

12:00:00

4.4 

01/11/2009

13:00:00

5.2 

01/11/2009

14:00:00

4 

01/11/2009

15:00:00

6.4 

01/11/2009

16:00:00

5.8 

01/11/2009

17:00:00

3 

01/11/2009

18:00:00

1.8 

01/11/2009

19:00:00

0.8 

01/11/2009

20:00:00

0.8 

01/11/2009

21:00:00

0.2 

Table: SEPA rainfall data from Newton of Falkland

Between 5am and 9pm we experienced 44.8mm of rainfall, but thankfully there were no extreme flash flood type rain periods. Had the rainfall been heavier or lasted longer then we would have had major flooding throughout the village.

Last year’s devastating floods were caused by heavy rainfall on the preceding Saturday and then very heavy rainfall in the early hours of the Wednesday morning. Flooding started around 5:20am after two hours of extremely heavy rainfall.

Date

Time

Rainfall
(mm)

13/08/2008

03:00:00

5.0 

13/08/2008

04:00:00

11.2 

13/08/2008

05:00:00

13.2 

Table: SEPA rainfall data from Newton of Falkland

Based on our experience and supported by the SEPA data, it appears we need to worry when we are experiencing more than 5mm of rainfall per hour on ground that is already saturated.

We desperately need to put in place Natural Flood Management (NFM) and other control measures to hold back these surge events, re-route some of the water draining into Freuchie and improve the capacity of the watercourses. Some of this is fairly easy and quick to achieve when the funding is put in place and we have the co-operation of landowners to allow flood prevention measures to be built and deployed on their land.

Rainfall data supplied courtesy of SEPA and is subject to final quality control checks. Thank you SEPA.

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Fife Herald

Nov07
2009 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Another excellent article by Liz Rougvie on Page 3 of this week’s Fife Herald. Freuchie gets a mention in a round-up of areas that survived flooding this time around.

Liz has also written the front page article on flooding. It is interesting to see Ming Campbell MP calling for proactive action on flooding. Freuchie Flood Action Group will be interested to hear how he is going to play a part in making this happen. His blog, as of today, fails to even mention the NE Fife floods of last Sunday.

The Fife Herald must have held the presses this week as we didn’t send them the published photo until Thursday morning. Normally you’ve got to get your submissions in by Wednesday afternoon for it to appear that week.

Thank you once again Liz.

UPDATE: Ming Campbell’s website appears to have been updated on the afternoon of the 7th November with a cut and paste of the Fife Herald article. See here.

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Sandbags

Nov06
2009 5 Comments Written by admin

Fife Council may not be able to supply sandbags during a flood as Fife wide demand may well outstrip supply or they may be so overstretched that they won’t be able to deliver sandbags in time. Even when they are able to deliver sandbags, it may not be enough to make a difference.

From the Emergency Planning with Fife Council FAQ:

Q.  Will the council provide me with sandbags in the event of flooding?

The council encourages householders to be prepared for flooding if they are in known flood area. However, flash flooding is happening more often and all homeowners should be making arrangements to look after their own properties and families. There are companies such as builder’s merchants who can provide you with flood defence products.

In emergencies, the council will provide a range of support measures for the Emergency Services including, where possible, the provision of sandbags.

Sandbags may not keep out all flood water! They will also degrade within 3 – 6 months when exposed to sunlight hence they cannot be used as a permanent flood prevention barrier without additional measures and regular inspection. Disposal of used sandbags is also an environmental pollution issue that necessitates removal to a specially licensed landfill site.

Freuchie property known to be at risk of flooding must be protected by the owner. Other residents who fear for their property may also like to consider assessing the risk and steps necessary to protect their property.

Paul Hendy of the Scottish Flood Forum comments:

My continued stance is each home owner has responsibility to protect their property and this is not necessarily the responsibility of the respective Council.

The homes on the south of the village must be considered as an at risk area following the flooding of Albany Crescent flood last Sunday. Residents in streets downhill of Albany Crescent should think about how future flooding may affect them. Dedicated flood protection products should be installed or deployed if residents wish to stand the best chance of keeping flood water out of their property.

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