‘We narrowly escaped’: 50 people battle Storm Babet until 3am to save Peterculter families from flooding

Residents praised the "excellent" response to the emergency - but some have still been left counting the cost after inches of water seeped into their garages.

By Denny Andonova

October 22 2023, 6:25 pm

Peterculter residents (L-R) John McGow, Alistair Baird and Joyce Quarterman have been clearing up their homes following flooding due to Storm Babet. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

John McGow began fearing the worst as he watched the burn behind his home burst its banks, sending water “bubbling up” towards his home.

The 67-year-old still gets flashbacks to the destruction Storm Frank wreaked across Peterculter in 2015 – leaving dozens of houses on Millside Road submerged.

And as Storm Babet’s fierce winds and lashing rain continued to sweep across the north-east, residents in the Aberdeen suburb feared history could repeat itself.

House getting water pumped in Peterculter. — The lower ground in front of houses in the area was submerged under water as volunteers brought pumps to take out as much as they can and saves the homes from flooding. Image: Annette Cameron/DC Thomson.

Two days on from the storm’s arrival, Culter Burn burst its banks – leaving nearby roads under several inches of murky water.

More than 50 people rushed to help residents in the Culter Den, Millbank Terrace and Millside Road areas on Saturday afternoon, battling the elements until 3am to save homes from flooding.

Flooding in Peterculter. — The water from Culter Burns rushed down Millside Terrace. Image: Annette Cameron/DC Thomson.

“We narrowly escaped the worst”, said John, who has lived here for the last 17 years.

“The moment we saw the water bubbling up, we just grabbed tape, sandbags and whatever else we had to secure the house.

“It took us five months to recover after Storm Frank, and we didn’t want to go through that again.”

John and his neighbours were clearing up the mud outside their homes in the aftermath of Saturday’s flooding. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Families deal with the aftermath of Storm Babet flooding

On Sunday morning, residents were dealing with the aftermath of the weather chaos.

While most had managed to escape the worst, some people suffered severe damage to their garages and garden sheds, with belongings left underwater.

Taking yet another soaking wet cardboard box out to dry, Joyce Quarterman tells me they have lost a lot of personal items in the flooding.

While the water levels had gone down, the burn was still crashing into the bridge – splattering more water onto the road. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Almost everything they kept in their garage – including her husband David’s comic collection, a few speakers and other equipment – has been destroyed.

Having moved into their home on Millside Road in 2020, Joyce said she has never seen the water levels rise so high.

Joyce and her husband David were checking out the damage this morning after their garage was flooded. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

“There is a lot of clearing up to do today, but the most important thing is that everything in the house is safe,” the 56-year-old added.

“We just kept looking at the water going higher and higher, and the rain wouldn’t stop.

“We hadn’t even realised it was that bad until we opened the garage and found it completely flooded. You couldn’t even see the ground.

“I can only praise the volunteers that came to help us last night – it could have been way worse.”

Dozens of sand bags were brought to the area on Saturday to try save families’ homes from the water flooding in. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Calls for long-term solution to flooding threat in Peterculter

Next door, Alistair Baird was also counting the cost.

The 79-year-old and his family spent hours taking water out of the garage last night, scooping up bucketful after bucketful.

Alistair avoided damage to his home thanks to the flood defences he had place – as well as the volunteers’ “fantastic” help. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

“We must have been dealing with this until 11pm or so,” Alistair said.

“It was nothing compared to the flooding we had eight years ago, but there is always that fear when you see the water in the burn go up.

“They really need to do something about it, because this time it was okay – but what about the next time…”

The garden of Alistair’s neighbour Michael McLeod was submerged on Saturday evening. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Emergency services and volunteers work until 3am to save homes

Looking back to last night’s ordeal, Alistair had nothing but praise for those who came to help and prevent the worst from happening.

Firefighters, volunteers and members of the Community Offroad Transport Action Group (COTAG) worked for more than eight hours to stop the water from flooding in.

Residents on Millside Road were out clearing out their garages following the flooding. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Footage shows the emergency services pumping out water from the swamped roads in a frantic bid to spare properties from suffering major damage.

The local resilience group also immediately jumped to residents’ aid, turning Culter Village Hall into a rest centre within minutes for anyone who needs to evacuate.

While councillor Marie Boulton was knocking on doors, warning people they might need to flee their homes, Kerwin Roberston was gathering his volunteers.