Dozens left homeless for six months as floods strike

DOZENS of people will be left homeless for six months or more after severe floods swept through a West Lothian town.

Fire crews had to rescue families from their homes using a dinghy after torrential rain ripped through Broxburn.

Around 17 houses were wrecked after the Brox Burn burst its banks late on Tuesday night.

Though most of the water has been cleared from the streets, today a major clean-up operation is continuing.

The devastation was such that residents have been told by insurance companies to secure rented accommodation for at least six months during the clean-up.

At its worst, ferocious torrents of water, almost a metre high, swept through the area, taking with them parked cars and an 18ft cabin cruiser boat.

The burn burst its banks at three different points at around 11pm on Tuesday evening and the water surrounded the homes on Newhouses Road and Burnvale near the Hall's meat factory and Keyline builders' yard at the east end of the town.

Parts of the road on Burnvale were also washed away, leaving large craters.

John Hardie's one-storey cottage on Burnvale was filled with 4ft of water.

His Rover car was written off and two of his grandson's pet rabbits were killed.

"They will have to totally gut my house and rip up the floorboards," he said.

"I salvaged what I could when I had the chance but it wasn't much. My fridge was floating in the kitchen as the water was so high and I was nearly swept away when I tried to get to the rabbits.

"It was absolutely torrential and flowed down the road like a river."

It took fire crews, who had to negotiate the deep currents in a dinghy, more than three hours to rescue the last family with a three-month-old baby living at the top of Burnvale.

The Fogwill family, who live at the bottom of Burnvale, managed to escape through their back window and into a neighbour's house. They have lived in their cottage for 16 years and said they had never seen anything like it, even though the area is prone to flooding.

Father-of-three Peter Fogwill said: "We never had a chance to save anything as there was no warning.

"The woman who lives next door to us suffers from multiple sclerosis and is bed-ridden. The firefighters just made it to her in time. The water was reaching the top of her bed when they got to her.

"We've been trying to find accommodation, but can't get anything yet because of the time of year with festivals, so we're staying with family."

The lady with MS and an elderly couple were taken to St John's Hospital for treatment. No-one else was injured.

One family was evacuated to rest centre facilities which were set up at West Calder Community Centre by West Lothian Council.

The bridge at Newhouses Road is to undergo a full assessment

after suffering flooding six years ago.

Broxburn councillor Graeme Morrice said that West Lothian Council was in the process of finalising a new £5 million flood prevention system for the region.