No emergency aid for flooding victims
‘Threat to life’priority
Several Perth and Kinross residents claim they received no help from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) with the recent floods.
In the early hours of the August 12 thunderstorm, residents were repeatedly told the SFRS was only dealing with “threat to life” cases.
The SFRS said it was managing more than 2000 requests for help all over the country.
A spokesman for the SFRS said many of those calls were related to flooding caused by the severe weather and said it was “one of the busiest nights the service has seen this year so far.”
When Kinross resident Robert Ellis woke at 5am and spotted the flood coming, he immediately phoned the SFRS.
He said: “She asked if it was life threatening and I said it was property threatening. She said: ‘Phone us back if it’s life-threatening’.”
Residents on Perth’s Marshall Place dealing with flooded properties were met with the same response.
Pete Iannetta said: “During the day, I called 999 as the flooding rose. I was told ‘We can’t do anything unless there is a threat to life.’
“I said: ‘The water is nearing the electrics, isn’t that a threat to life?’ They said: ‘Leave it with us.’ I didn’t hear from them again.”
Another Marshall Place resident
Felicity Graham asked for help from firefighters standing outside her home.
She told the PA: “They said they had evacuated a neighbour. I asked if they could help pump out our yard.
“They said they didn’t have a pump and were waiting to be allocated to a job.
“They told us to put a 999 call in to get an assessment and potentially help with pumping out our yard.
“The emergency services didn’t want to take the call if it wasn’t a threat to life until I said the fire crew had told us to call.
“A fireman came to see the flooding but didn’t have a pump. We did not see them again.”
David Farries is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s head of response and resilience.
He said: “We sympathise with everyone who was affected by this extraordinary weather event and we thank communities for their patience, understanding and support during an incredibly resourceintensive 24 hour period.
“In such unprecedented circumstances and as an emergency service, it is imperative that we prioritise calls where life is at risk and we duly responded alongside partners to some very serious incidents.
“We also received more than 2000 requests for assistance at multiple flooding incidents as well as fires that had taken hold within homes and road traffic collisions.
“As a national service, we are able to call upon resources from across the country to ensure that we attended at every incident where we believed there was a risk to life, and wherever possible we will also attend at remaining calls to support communities.”