An Aberdeenshire Council chief said the flooding which struck the region in 2016 was officially “the biggest event” the local authority had ever dealt with.
Director of Infrastructure Services, Stephen Archer, also confirmed that the flood bill facing Aberdeenshire Council had officially topped £8million and was still being assessed.
The council chief added that the local authority – which was forced to make £28million of savings earlier this year – did not have all the required money and would have to complete the repair work across several years.
The local authority’s policy and resources committee last month approved using £3million from the council’s winter and other emergencies fund for remedial works to help get the region back on its feet.
It also backed spending £1.2million on repairing 22 council homes in Ballater.
However, Mr Archer said the £8million figure was a “potential cost” and not a “tendered” one.
He added: “It is the biggest event Aberdeenshire has ever had to respond to and we are still assessing the costs now and we are three months further on.
“It is over £8milion and that is potential cost because, on day one, you list all the things you need to do and say ‘that will be about £10,000, that will be about £50,000’.
“That is where that £8million figure comes from, so they are not tendered costs. They are best estimates from the professionals dealing with those issues.”
Mr Archer explained the council had “not got £8million sitting to be spent” adding that “the Scottish Government have put some money on the table to assist”.
He said: “Some of that £8million may be floodrelated, but you don’t need to do that this year, so you can do that in 2017-18.
“Our £8million may not all need to be spent in the next 12 months if it does all need to be spent we will need assistance because we have not got that fund.”
Mr Archer said some 300 staff members from his department alone were mobilised to respond to the floods in anyway they can starting on December 30.
He added: “It was a bit of all hansds on deck as is the way these thigns happen at night, on New Years Eve when it can be hard to galvansise the troops but people just stepped up
“They got stuck in. People just stepped up, we were sending them home to go have a break, go have a breather. It was really heartening.”
