A multimillion-pound tourist lodge was among properties affected by serious flooding across Aberdeenshire yesterday.
Heavy rainfall on Tuesday evening persisted through the night which resulted in property owners in Portsoy, Whitehills and Cornhill being forced to deploy sandbags and fix flood gates in a bid to protect their homes.
Two tourists were caught up in the drama when The Soy, which runs through Portsoy, burst its banks and washed away a road near the Sail Loft bunkhouse.
The £2million lodge had only opened for the first time earlier this year and was set to welcome up to 25 visitors during the community’s annual boat festival later this month.
But now, unless the road can be fixed in time, those visitors will have to search for accommodation elsewhere.
Boat festival chairman Roger Goodyear, who also helms the village’s enterprise group which runs the bunkhouse, said the damage was the “last thing” anyone needed.
He added that the interior of the building had escaped with only minor water damage.
But he said: “Nobody can remember flooding like this in Portsoy.
“The road has been almost completely washed away. It means we can’t get vehicular access to the building, but hopefully that can get fixed as quickly as possible.
“It looks a lot more dramatic on the outside than the inside. The water doesn’t look like it was even that deep. We had two people in the loft last night and they were never in any danger, they were completely fine.
“Very little of the furniture has been affected, but our hope is that we’ll be up and running as quickly as we can.
“It hasn’t been a disaster – but it’s the last thing we would have wanted. I feel more sorry for the people in Portsoy who have been affected, because it’s been really awful for them.”
The bunkhouse had been due to be officially opened for the season next week.
