Volunteers distribute food to flood-hit residents
- Published
Fiona Stuart said the food larder at the village hall
A community hall in Stirlingshire is distributing emergency food supplies after the village's only supermarket flooded.
Water in Aberfoyle reached knee-height over the weekend after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning.
On Saturday, large areas of Scotland saw the equivalent of a month's average rainfall.
The Co-op in the village was forced to close and could remain shut until the end of the week.
The flooding also caused residential oil tanks to tip over and sparked pollution fears.
NHS Forth Valley urged anyone concerned about being exposed to oil residue to contact ambulance crews on site.
The village hall was designated a distribution centre for those who cannot travel further away for food and essentials.
Community volunteer Beverley Clark told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme how the main street started "filling up" with water on Saturday morning after the River Forth overflowed.
A Co-op spokesman said the water was knee-high in the village's shop, and initial assessments suggested the shop may not open until the end of the week.
Locals have donated food supplies for those in need
"A deep clean will also be required before the store is able to re-open," he said.
"It is too early to confirm when the store will re-open, while assessments into any damage caused is awaited."
Ms Clark said the Co-op was Aberfoyle's only supermarket and served a wide area around Aberfoyle, including Kinlochard and Gartmore.
Before it was forced to close, the Co-op donated some perishable food to the village hall collection.
Locals and charities have also donated amid concerns for people cut off from the community due to the flooded roads.
Fiona Stuart, who visited the food larder at the village hall, said the food distribution efforts were "extremely vital".
"There is nowhere to buy food," she said. "Unless I drove during the floods, which would be senseless.
"There are also quite a lot of people who are retired here and on their own and no-one can drive them to get food.
"I think everyone knows this village hall is open with food and such, and if they can't get up, someone else can come up."
Ms Stuart said the flood was the worst she had seen in 40 years.
"It didn't go down when the tide went out - the flood stayed up for two days," she said.
"I had my grandsons over for a visit on Thursday morning, but because you couldn't go from one side of the village to another, they couldn't go home for two nights."
The main street in Aberfoyle flooded after heavy rain over the weekend
Ms Clark told BBC Scotland how people were trapped in the Forrest Hills Hotel for three days with limited food and no medicine.
"We also had two residential oil tanks tip over in the village which pour out fuel oil into the flood waters," she said.
"That's now in people's basements and if the water comes back up again, that contamination is going to come back up."
A NHS Forth Valley spokesperson said the flooding had been "exacerbated after kerosene entered the water course, posing a potential threat to public health in the area."
Most roads around the area are no longer flooded, but a yellow weather warning for rain in Argyll, Glasgow and the West Highlands is in place from 06:00 to 21:00 on Tuesday.
It is expected that 15-25mm of rainfall will fall, with 40-50mm possible on high ground.
This volume of rainfall would not usually warrant a warning, but the Met Office said it was a concern after the rainfall at the weekend.
"If it comes down really heavy, it is a worry," said Ms Clark. "We've already got saturated grounds and very full lochs and rivers.
"It could all come up again, and the worst thing is the blocking of the roads - cutting people off from the community.
- Published9 October 2023
- Published10 October 2023
- Published9 October 2023
