Even the best flood defences will not always be effective during extreme weather events like Storm Babet, a senior SNP minister has admitted.
Justice chief Angela Constance warned “frank conversations” will be needed about how to protect communities in future following the devastation caused in the north-east.
More than 300 families in Brechin were evacuated as homes were engulfed by severe floodwater as a result of unprecedented rainfall.
A flood defence scheme, one of the biggest civil engineering jobs ever undertaken in Angus, failed to stop the town from being overwhelmed by the horrendous storm.
The walls were designed to cope with flooding 3.8 metres high, but were breached at around 4am on Friday as the rain poured down relentlessly.
Across the country there are 42 flood prevention projects in place, which are ideally intended to keep communities safe when extreme weather hits.
Yet questions are now being asked over whether current defence schemes are fit for purpose in the wake of the carnage from Storm Babet.
Justice minister Ms Constance told the BBC Sunday Show: “We do need to have some frank conversations with government and our communities.
With the best will in the world, the best flood defences will not give 100% protection 100% of the time.
“What we’ve seen with Storm Babet is over two days, two months worth of rainfall, which is exceptional.
“Although the storm has now passed, the impact of that will be with communities for some time.”
Jim Savage, chief executive of Aberdeenshire Council, insisted strong flood defences to protect towns will not fix everything.
He said: “Flood defences are only part of the deal here.
“What we have to start with is individual resilience with people at their own properties making sure they’ve got their own flood defences.
“I don’t think that we can afford to flood defend our way out of what the weather may be doing to us.”
It was warned this morning residents forced to abandon their homes may not be able to return by Christmas due to the damage.
Angus Councillor Gavin Nicol warned locals would be in temporary accommodation for an “extensive period” of time.
And he pleaded for the Scottish Government to step in and give the local authority cash to help what will be a huge recovery effort.
The council has vowed to rehome as many residents as possible, and the process of finding out the extent of damage to property has started.
Aberdeenshire and Moray were also hit by heavy flooding during the storm.
Ms Constance said there “isn’t one solution” to bolstering flood defences, but said protecting schemes remain “vitally important”.
She said many local authorities will likely be “revisiting” their current approaches to risk management following this week’s horrific storm.
The SNP justice secretary also said responding to major floods has been a “big feature” of her party’s government programmes in recent years.
We revealed Storm Babet could wind up being among the most expensive weather events in Scotland’s history due to the costs.
The repair bill is expected to exceed £500 million.
It was also warned Scotland’s infrastructure will have to be strengthened in order to cope with future storms.
Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, said: “At the launch of Brechin’s new flood defence scheme in 2016, it was claimed it would cope with a ‘once in 200 year event’.
“Well, that was just seven years ago and I doubt if it will be another 200 years before we see something similar happening again.”