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Stonehaven pensioners living in constant fear of flooding threat

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PENSIONERS in a coastal Aberdeenshire town are living in constant fear from sea flooding.

The residents of a sheltered housing complex in Stonehaven have already had to endure water devastation twice in the last two years after severe storms hit the town, causing the River Carron to burst its banks. And at a meeting last night, terrified pensioners said they were still struggling to sleep at night for fear of the same happening again.

One woman said: “I have to sit and watch the waves come over the wall. I can’t sleep and have to watch the sea.”

More than 100 people gathered at the bowling club in Stonehaven for the meeting – organised by the Stonehaven Flood Action Group – where people expressed their frustration at Aberdeenshire Council’s lack of action despite the town historically suffering from bad flooding.

The local authority was also questioned about when something would finally be done to protect the homes and businesses along the seafront after the town was hit again earlier this month.

Manager of the Hanover and Turner Court, Eileen Thomsett, said that staff needed to get up in the middle of the night to check that the tide was at a safe level so that they could sleep easy.

“We get up in the middle of the night to check that the tide is not coming over,” she said.

“We shouldn’t have to live like that. There should be something in place to protect the seafront of Stonehaven.”

She said that earlier this month, when the waves hit for the second time in two years, the housing complex was never alerted to the heavy flooding that might come – despite signing up for the alerts.

“We didn’t know until the sea came over the wall and the police arrived,” she said.

Resident Lezley Clark, who lives at Hanover Court, said she had never been the same again since water ripped through the complex for the first time.

She said she could not sleep at night for fear of the rising sea.

“I lost everything in 2012 because I’m on the ground floor,” she said.

“There’s not another high tide due until the end of November, so I’ll be OK until then.

“But as soon as I hear the wind and rain on the window, I’m aware.

“It’s not a very nice way to live. I can’t sleep and have to watch the sea.”

Philip McKay, head of roads and landscape services at Aberdeenshire Council, told the meeting that a report had been compiled looking at potential flood defence options, and that these options were still being assessed. He said that flooding would continue to be an issue until something “substantial” was done.

Several residents called for some of the shingle on the beach to be lowered, so it could still absorb the energy of the waves while not piling up against the sea wall.

But Mr McKay said it would be a “bad idea” and would do little to prevent the waves crashing over the sea wall.

He said: “On October 7 the highest sea wall was at the harbour, where the water came over and sunk a number of boats.

“The waves crashed over that because there is no beach there.

“Lowering the shingle is a bad idea. The higher the beach is, the more energy from the waves it absorbs.

“There’s very little we can down to prevent water coming over the water unless we can do something substantial.”