First householders awarded flooding grants

26 January 2016

The first grants have been awarded by Aberdeen City Council to householders in the city who were affected by the recent flooding.

The funding, which is available to all local authorities in Scotland to administer, provides a £1,500 grant to residents who meet the criteria.

Andrea Moonie, of Cults, was forced out of her cottage along with her children Dylan, 12, and Sophie, nine, on 30 December after the River Dee flooded due to Storm Frank.

The ground floor of her home was completely wrecked and insurers have advised it may be nine to 12 months before she can return to the property.

Andrea, who lives next door to her dad Ben Seagraves, said: "When the night happened, we never really thought it would be as bad as it was as we stayed in the house for a while but then the water level rose really quickly and we got rescued by the Coastguard.

"Our insurance company has been really good but it will take a while for things to get sorted so it's been a tough month as there are lots of things you have to shell out for that you don't realise, or weren't covered by insurance, so this money is very welcome indeed."

Aberdeen City Council Deputy Leader Councillor Marie Boulton said: "We are really pleased householders are getting their grants approved less than a month after the storm which devastated homes, businesses and land all over the country.

"We have moved quickly on this as we know how terrible the impact is on people to have their houses affected by flooding, the same as how our staff in roads, housing and emergency planning departments reacted at the time.

"On that note, we'd like to thank our staff for their hard work during that time in what were challenging circumstances, and also for work which has been carried out and will continue on flood prevention schemes around the city.

"Hundreds of homes were saved when Westburn Park, Glashieburn, Stronsay and Jack's Brae areas flooded as they have been designed to do, to act as containment pools for extra water from burns and sewers.

"We're working hard on other flood prevention schemes and one in the Peterculter area is next on our list."

Flood prevention schemes already in place include:

The flood prevention scheme priorities for Aberdeen City Council include:

The total cost of implementing these city-wide schemes will run to tens of millions of pounds with implementation phased over a number of years.

Residents or businesses who would like to apply for the grants can contact 01224 219281 or 08456 080919, and more information including a form to download is available from www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/notices/Flooding_assistance.asp.

Only those households and businesses which were directly affected by the flooding during the period 29-31 December 2015 (Storm Frank) and the flooding of 7-8 January 2016 ie which suffered inundation of water within their premises, will be eligible to apply for the grant.