Too Close for Comfort

All this joking that I've been doing about the incessant rain drew to an abrupt halt yesterday afternoon when I listened to the news and heard about road closures all over Scotland, including some very near us. We began to worry as we watched the Scottish weather report on the telly about how the rain was not stopping, that there were flood warnings for all of Perthshire, and that the Highland town of Kingussie (kenYOUsee) had been partially evacuated. Before we could settle down and get dinner on the table, we felt we had to see for ourselves what the situation was in Comrie. So we put on our rain gear, grabbed a torch, and walked down to the river. We were amazed to see the water up so high. It hadn't burst its banks but it wouldn't take much more rain before that could happen.

In the dark, my little camera couldn't get a very good photo but here are a couple that show you some of what we saw. Above is a shot of the river, rapidly running eastward, having inundated trees on the river bank. Any of you who have visited us here know that the walkway beside the river that we take to get to the bridge is usually 8 to 10 or more feet above the water level and approximately 10 feet away from the water's edge. This photo shows Don on the footpath. The water is up to the fence. We walked across the bridge and were just amazed at how high up the water had risen. Some of the houses fronting the river on the other side of the bridge were threatened. We met a policeman over there who was on foot but being trailed by his matein an SUV patrol car. He had a powerful torch and was assessing the situation, relaying information to his partner who was in touch with various authorities throughout Scotland. The policeman we spoke with said the river had actually gone down a wee bit because the rain had slacked off some, but now the rain was picking up again. He told us that emergency crews, police, and public service workers were stretched to the limit and that there were no sandbags left in all of Scotland. We were talking beside 4'-high wall that demarked the front garden of one house. The water was up to the bottom of it. Then as we walked back up the lane toward the high street, we met a man whose garage is down where we had just been. He had managed to get his car out earlier but still had 2 vintage motorcycles in there that he was going to check on. He pointed to a spot halfway between where we were now standing and the wall where we had stood speaking with the policeman and said the water had advanced that far up the hill earlier and that the water had been halfway up that 4' wall.

We had already been experiencing sluggish drains again and gurgling in some of them. Water in our toilet bowls had risen and flushing brought it even higher. Needless to say, we stopped flushing! Outside, water was beginning to stand around the house in the lowest-lying areas. We kept thinking about what would happen if water seeped up through the floor as our house is quite low. When we watched the late news and weather report from Scotland, we learned yet another town, this one not 50 miles away, had been flooded and had undergone a partial evacuation, we felt even more worried. Don said he didn't think he'd be able to sleep and thought he'd just plan to stand watch all night. At that moment I felt the same but by midnight, I had begun to fade. Not long after that, Don did too.

When I got up at 7 this morning, the rain was tapering off. (It stopped not long after that.) When it brightened up enough that we could see outside, we saw that the water was no longer standing on the patio and much less was standing by the front entrance than had been last night. But when I looked out our bedroom window, we were in a puddle that seemed to surround the entire back of the house and reach out to the greenhouse and garage. I've added some photos above. One of them shows the car partially in that puddle which extends beyond the studio wall near the utility room.

After breakfast, Don walked up to the river and took more photos (above). He said the river was a few feet below where we had seen it last night, but it's still high. It had begun drizzling again but is supposed to gradually clear today. Meanwhile, we hear that the South Crieff Road, which runs behind the village all the way to Crieff is closed. There are many low-lying spots, not only on the road but on farms. We have been hearing about local sheep farmers having to keep moving their sheep to higher ground. On some farms, there isn't any and, as sheep live on grass, they are unable to graze so the farmers are scrambling to find feed for them. (Normally in the winter, sheep are able to graze because the grass rarely dies off. Rather, it stays green all year round.)

Now, at a little after 11 a.m., the standing water around our house has almost disappeared. There is only a puddle or two in the lowest spots. Toilets are flushing almost normally. The rain has stopped and we are hopeful that it will stay away.

Our joiners are here to put the insulation in the loft (attic)--finally! Barclay also has the vent cover for the one window that was missing one. So when they leave here today, the last of the renovation work will be done and we can get the carpets steam cleaned. Seeing that work began on the renovation last November, and here it is mid-December, we are relieved to say that everything is now finished.