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 THOUSANDS-of pounds worth of damage was caused by flooding in Stornoway on Monday morning.
The premises of the Fishermen's Mission on North Beach Street, pictured above on Monday morning, will be closed until Thursday or Friday of next week following around £10,000 worth of damage.
Said Superintendent John Hamilton, "There was flooding to the ground floor including the canteen and the kitchen. We thought at one time that there could be damage of around £20,000 to £25,000 but we don't think it will be that high now. I am still waiting for quotes."
He went on, "We had to take the concrete floor up and some of the wiring had to be replaced."
Mr Hamilton said that the insurance company involved were sending a representative to the island this week to see the situation first hand.
The emergency services were involved in the operation as shops,offices and licensed premises were flooded, including the Crown Hotel.
But the Clachan Bar got off fairly lightly on this occasion.
Said bar manager James Ogilvie, "We had about two or three inches of rain in the premises. As we have a stone floor we were able to sweep it out and it was about an hour's work. It was bad enough, but there was no real damage to stock."
Mr Ogilvie said that he had received a call just after 8 o'clock in the morning to say that North Beach was flooded.
"We have had this problem before with flooding on North Beach and the water coming under the door of the premises. Before the road was blocked off, the spray from the cars and buses was coming under the door, but I think we got off fairly lightly," he added.
Because of the flooding, Stornoway police closed off the town centre and the traffic coming from the Manor Park area was diverted up Matheson Road.
Director of Technical Services at Comhairle nan Eilean, Mr Murdo Murray commented on Monday, "All we were involved in was giving some measure of assistance to the owners of the properties involved. The high tide created conditions you cannot do anything about. All we could do was to give some assistance as in past years to help people cope with the situation. It was a very high tide this morning - 5.3 metres at 8.30am."
He said that flooding in the town was a difficult problem.
"You have to deal with it in terms of traffic redirection and give assistance to those requiring it after the event. Flooding like this comes around from time to time," he added.
Mr Murray said flooding on the Stornoway side of the Braighe had also been a problem because of the high tide.
He said that once the road was reconstructed the problem would be sorted - but there was no funding for that at the present time.
"It is something we have in our financial plan and will be addressed when the resources are available," he said.
Original article Stornoway Gazette Feb 13 1997.
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