Our thoughts are with those across the Atlantic who are suffering the worst effects of “Hurricane Irene” / “Tropical Storm Irene”.
The storm surge has already caused flooding, with further severe flooding being predicted along the east coast of the US.
Keep safe.
A Yellow (Be Aware) Severe Weather Warning has been issued by the Met Office:
Issued at – 26 Aug 2011, 12:42
Valid from – 26 Aug 2011, 12:00
Valid to – 26 Aug 2011, 21:00Slow moving heavy rain, perhaps accompanied by thunder in places, will continue into this evening. The public should be aware that localised flooding from surface water is possible.
SEPA has issued a Flood Alert for Fife:
A FLOOD ALERT has been issued for Fife
from 26-08-2011 12:30 to 27-08-2011 12:30
A FLOOD ALERT has been issued for Fife.
Outbreaks of heavy rain, with some intense localised downpours, are expected to affect the area throughout Friday. The intensity of the rain may cause some surface water flooding, particularly in built up areas or on low lying roads. Flooding to low lying areas from small watercourses is also possible. Impacts are not expected to be widespread, but flooding may occur in localised areas where the rainfall is most intense. SEPA will continue to monitor the situation and further updates will be provided when new information becomes available. Conditions are expected to ease during Saturday.
The Fife Herald has a news article on floodgate ownership this week. Liz Rougvie has done her usual outstanding job of writing a thought provoking article – see P13.
Once again we thank Liz and the team at the Fife Herald for their support in bring this important issue to the notice of the general public.
Update: Article is available online.
Sad to report more flooding in the UK. This time it is the Dorset resort of Bournemouth. Sounds fairly bad going by this Guardian news article. Further flooding is expected as the weather worsens over the next few days.
The Bournemouth Echo has graphic photographs in their coverage.
FFAG is thinking of all those affected by this latest bout of flooding. Please be careful and remember flood waters can be dangerous is so many ways.
This isn’t exactly a flood related post but it is important news for Freuchie next month.
Patrick Laughlin, Secretary of Freuchie Community Council, has sought clarification about the ongoing gas works currently underway in Freuchie. A Scottish Gas Networks spokesperson informed him of the following works:
Week commencing 19 Sept – traffic will not be allowed to enter East End from the A92 – all access to Freuchie from the A92 will be via the garden centre crossroads/Kettle Road. (That will be a good test for the traffic calming measures!!!)
Week commencing 26 Sept – this is more awkward for residents of Freuchie Mill Road and Freuchie Mill. There will be no vehicular access between Freuchie Mill Road and the A92 – meaning that residents will have to head east to the A914 for all their vehicular journeys.
The gas works will also take place on the A92 itself, at the Cross Keys crossroads, during this fortnight. But half of the road will remain open at all times..
Patrick further commented:
Scotland Gas Networks say they are in full and ongoing dialogue with both BEAR Scotland and Fife Council about these works and how they are signposted. All the agencies see the A92 closure at Eden Bridge as the ideal time to do the works at Cross Keys junction and you can understand their logic. Providing their signposting is good, the disruption should not be too great.
Please drive extra carefully and slowly at the traffic calming measures while these works are ongoing. Most of us will have had near misses or scary moments while negotiating the chicanes. Even Freuchie Primary School kids brought this up as an important issue at one of their recent annual presentations to Freuchie Community Council.
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A Met Office spokesman on the BBC Scotland News programme revealed the following statistics for the first ten days of August:
2/3 of weather stations in Scotland have already recorded the usual amount of rainfall that would be seen in the whole of August.
Aberdeen has recorded 1.5 times
Edinburgh has recorded 2 times
Leuchars has recorded 3 times
Our own weather station is showing 107.4mm so far in August as of 7pm on the 11th August, with half of this rainfall being over the last 36 hours.
Park Road in Rosyth has suffered devastating flooding according to the Dunfermline Press:
http://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/roundup/articles/2011/08/11/416067-park-road–an-absolute-disaster-after-deluge/
STV is reporting flooding in Burntisland, Kilmany, St Andrews and Tayport:
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/tayside/265820-businesses-hit-and-roads-blocked-after-flooding-in-tayside-and-fife/
The BBC has done a great job of reporting on the Rosyth flood:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-14474329
Very sad news day for Fife. FFAG is thinking of the people in the areas affected by flooding. We hope everyone’s home is flood free.
Hopefully home owners have invested in floodgates, airbrick covers and other flood protection products. Sandbags just aren’t up to the job of preventing flooding, although they do have a part to play to help manage flood waters.
Just received an email from the Chair of Cockermouth Flood Action Group:
Hi, I’m chair of Cockermouth Flood Action Group. Just wanted to say we are thinking about you, hope the water abates soon and keep up good work.
The lovely sentiment helps to brightens the day here in Freuchie.
FFAG hopes all is well in Cockermouth. We all remember the horrific scenes on our television screens when Cockermouth was devastated by flooding and the sad loss of PC Bill Barker while performing his duties in nearby Workington.
Have a look at the Cockermouth Flood Action Group website. They are doing a grand job.
Approximately 40mm of rainfall was recorded by the Freuchie Mill weather station from 9am on the 10th until 9am this morning (11th).
Image: Recent daily rainfall totals
This volume of rainfall will have fully saturated the ground thereby increasing the risk of flooding over the next few days as rain continues to fall.
The Courier has written up an excellent news article regarding the recent floodgate fixture and fitting issue here in Freuchie – see page 4.
Thankfully the article is now a cautionary tale as the floodgates were returned last night.
Once again we are indebted to Craig at The Courier for showing such support for flooding issues.
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