Water, water everywhere
It’s been two decades since Rutherglen and Cambuslang suffered the worst flooding to hit the area in living memory.
The watery chaos ruined Christmas 1994 for many families and businesses, causing an enormous disruption.
The worst affected were the residents of Dalmarnock Road.
Some families first noticed water coming into their homes just after 8am on the morning of Monday, December 12, with many families being evacuated that evening.
Others, however, chose to stay on and try to salvage what they could .
A total of 49 people had to evacuated from the Farme Cross area, with water creeping up to a height of three feet inside flats, and cars were submerged on the street, as the Reformer’s pictures at the time showed.
Some families, like pensioners Charles and Betty McAuley and their neighbours John and Angela Vincent , chose to move in with their upstairs neighbours instead, returning later to find their homes in ruins.
Angela Vincent told the Reformer 20 years ago: “Everything will have to go. We were in the middle of renovating the bathroom and now both bathroom suites in the house have been damaged.
“All the Christmas presents have been ruined as well.”
Local firms were also badly affected by the flooding.
Businessman Justin MacFarlane used an unusual mode of transport to each his Downiebrae warehouse - a dinghy!
He was devastated when he got there though, as he discovered the 26,000 square feet of storage was underwater and almost £250,000 of stock had been wrecked.
His telephone system and computers were also destroyed.
Staff at Robinson’s Distribution centre in Baronald Street estimated that around £100,000 of goods were left rotting in water, while the cellar of Tennants bar was flooded.
And the flooding also knocked the rail network out of commission, with services between Rutherglen and Partick terminated, and remained out of action for months.
The following day saw two 3000 gallon trucks arrive to start clearing water from Dalmarnock Road , as part of a massive clean-up operation.
Some local businesses were even visited by Prince Charles, in the aftermath.
Residents, however, were angry over the lack of preparation for the problems and the water systems in the area, especially given that Rutherglen and Cambuslang had long suffered from problems with flooding and with poor drainage.
Thankfully, the preventative measures since put in place have ensured there’s not been a repeat of the flooding on that scale since then.