LANDSLIP TERROR
Residents flee as 50 tons of mud and rock falls on village
A HUGE clean-up operation was under way yesterday after a landslide brought 50 tons of mud and debris onto a small village.
The hillside collapse – which forced the evacuation of homes and left cars trapped by rubble – came as torrential rain lashed Scotland.
Residents wearing life vests spent yesterday trying to clean up the mess as crews worked to restore water and power supplies, along with telephone lines.
The landslide came amid flash flooding at Glengyle, at the northern end of Loch Katrine in Stirlingshire.
The area was described as a ‘disaster zone’, with some parts of the village accessible only by boat.
Flooding also meant properties were evacuated in Rosyth, Fife, with seven people forced out of their homes, while three cars were submerged by rainwater at an underpass near Edinburgh Airport. One motorist was rescued by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service around 7pm.
The main railway line between Glasgow Queen Street and Edin
‘Lucky someone didn’t die’
burgh was closed due to floods last night, with services between the capital and Dunblane, in Perthshire, also affected.
The Glengyle landslide happened in the early hours of Monday, sparked by a deluge of rain the night before.
Downed trees and boulders surrounded and trapped vehicles, with some lifted up by the stream of debris.
The same downpour, which had sparked 16 flood alerts, also left train lines and roads submerged.
Ralf Woolfe, 76, who lives near Glengyle, said: ‘Glengyle is a disaster zone. I’ve seen a car in against the trees. There’s a lot of big boulders all over the place. It is lucky someone didn’t die.’
Brian Graham, 40, who runs the Pier Café in nearby Stronachlachar, said residents were left without running water for two days after the mudslide. He added: ‘So many properties have been destroyed. People had to walk several miles until they got a phone signal to call the police.
‘People had no electricity, phone lines and water until last night. Everyone is devastated, but we have community spirit here.’
Police Scotland said teams from Stirling Council and Scottish Water were working to restore services. A spokesman added that properties had been evacuated before and during the landslide, with 14 people moved.
He said: ‘There are no reports of casualties and no concerns over the infrastructure of Loch Katrine, but members of the public are asked to avoid the area.’
Engineers found five mudslides in the area, with the largest carving out a 150ft-wide groove in the side of the hill.
Two ‘danger to life’ flood warnings have been issued for the coming days by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The Met Office said heavy rain would move north tonight, with as much as an inch within hours tomorrow – with another 1.5in falling over a large swathe of the country on Saturday.
The emergency department waiting room at Inverness’s Raigmore Hospital was closed yesterday as rain poured through the ceiling, while repair works continue on the West Highland railway line after downpours on Sunday washed away tracks at Ardlui and at Dalmally, Argyll.