Efforts to fully assess Storm Babet damage hindered by further rain – minister

Assessing the full damage caused by Storm Babet has been made more difficult by ongoing rainfall, a Scottish Government minister has said amid Conservative demands for improved flood defences.

Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan made the remarks during a Scottish Tory-led debate in Holyrood which branded the Government’s response to the storm as “warm words”.

Storm Babet battered the UK last month, with hundreds of residents in Brechin, Angus, forced to flee their homes due to extensive flooding.

The extreme weather, from October 18 to 21, claimed the lives of seven people in the UK, including three in Scotland.

In Holyrood on Wednesday, North East Tory MSP Maurice Golden expressed concern at reports of limited anti-flood measures in some areas most in need.

He urged ministers to establish a multi-agency taskforce to develop a strategic plan for minimising the impact of flooding and to ensure impacted communities are supported during the recovery.

Speaking in the chamber, Ms McAllan said the Government had already agreed to set up a taskforce to co-ordinate the recovery phase, while supporting local communities in the repair process.

But she said the full scale of the problem is yet to be understood, with the process of examining the damage hindered by further wet weather across the country.

“The progress of assessing the full damage caused by Storm Babet, it will take time,” she said. “Further rainfall since the event has made this task more difficult.

“However, we know the scale of the damage and destruction has, of course, been significant and that we are on a long road to recovery.

“But as my Government colleagues have already set out, and I wish to reiterate today, we will continue to support our partners to ensure that communities can recover as well and as quickly as possible.”

Mr Golden said the storm had left a “terrible trail of destruction in its wake”, with the north-east of Scotland, including Perthshire and Tayside, particularly impacted.

He said the river in Brechin is estimated to have exceeded 4.4 metres above its normal level.

He said: “There was widespread damage to infrastructure, families were evacuated from their homes, and, tragically, people lost their lives.”

He urged the Government to ensure local authorities are adequately funded to respond to future weather conditions.

“This is one of the costliest weather events in Scottish history, with a repair bill that could hit half a million pounds,” he added.

“It’s a fair question to ask for the details of how much and how long support will be provided for those forced out of their homes or counting the cost of ruined businesses, face months of disruption.

“The fear they have is the warm words coming from politicians with no follow up.

“It also plays into a wider concern I’ve seen in local communities that there’s insufficient leadership from the Scottish Government.

“There’s a view that ministers turn up, listen sympathetically, and then leave it to the local authority to sort things out. Well, that can’t work because water flows and flooding are beyond the scope of any one local authority.”

During a visit to Brechin in the aftermath of the storm, First Minister Humza Yousaf pledged to provide the necessary support to councils in order to help those impacted.

In Holyrood on Wednesday, Scottish Labour’s Sarah Boyack “urgently” demanded to know “what work is being done to review existing and planned flood prevent infrastructure”.

Amid warnings that Scotland could face “more frequent and more intense extreme weather events”, she said both lives and livelihoods could be at risk in the future.

Ms Boyack warned: “It’s a now issue. We need to do the heavy lifting now, to build resilient infrastructure.”