They were concerned about being the villagers forgotten in the floods.
But now, north-east residents have won a battle with their local authority to give themselves peace of mind against a future deluge.
Residents of Port Elphinstone – namely the Riverside Park area – have been fighting to have a bund along the River Don near their homes put back to its original level.
And, following months of talks, Aberdeenshire Council is poised to begin the work.
Residents have argued that the “wall” of water which surged from the river at Davidson Park and ruined their homes and possessions on the evening of January 7 was caused by the riverbank giving way.
They claimed it was not properly maintained and had been weakened throughout the years by burrowing rabbits, plus the use of top soil to construct it.
As a consequence, a torrent of water swept through Riverside Park and surged down into Canal Road. On January 8, the Don reached its highest level on record at 18ft while the north-east experienced its worst flooding in memory.
In Inverurie and Port Elphinstone, 94 houses and 14 businesses were struck, whilst, down the road in Kintore, a further 36 homes and one business were affected.
In neighbouring Kemnay, the council recorded that 47 homes were flooded, but locals believe this figure may actually be closer to 62.
More than 600 homes and 100 businesses in Aberdeenshire were hit by the floods in the wake of Storm Frank.
In Riverside Park alone, some £2million worth of damage was estimated to have been caused.
But finally, work on the riverbank along Davidson Park is due to begin in the next few months.
Inverurie and District SNP councillor, Bryan Stuart, said: “We have got the full commitment for reinstatement which is exactly what we wanted, and that is going to be carried out in the forthcoming weeks.
“We are moving fairly quickly. The huge issue for folk that were flooded was that they were terrified it was going to happen again – statistically you could argue that is not likely.
“However, that doesn’t serve to reassure those who have gone through a horrific experience.
“We had to get this done as quickly as possible. In the longer term, Inverurie has been identified as a potentially vulnerable area and is part of the national flood protection plan.
“Flood defences will be getting designed, but it will take a number of years before they are actually constructed. This will give people a lot of reassurance in the years to come.”
Spokesman for the Riverside park residents, Frank Duguid, said: “We have made fairly good progress. They are working on a commitment that is going to replace the bank.
“We have received a commitment that a bank is going to be built. What we’re asking now is to get the bank back to what it was before.”
Local councillor and Aberdeenshire provost, Hamish Vernal, added: “It is great news – Sepa, the council and residents have all been working together and the local MP, Alex Salmond, has been heavily involved in this.
“It looks as if it is going to come forward in the next six or seven weeks.
“I think the short-term issue is to get the bund reinstated to 2004 levels, and that gives a degree of comfort to the residents; and then we can look to the future after that.”
Down the road in Port Elphinstone, residents in the lower streets such as Canal Road, Canal Crescent and others also welcomed the news.
However, they added there were still other issues – many to do with drainage – which contributed to the floods and which still need to be addressed for them.
Angela Randall’s home – which has been in her family since 1947 – sits at the junction of Elphinstone and Canal roads.
The ground floor of the taxi driver’s property was saturated with more than a foot of water, whilst her garage was engulfed with four times that amount.
Ms Randall said: “I haven’t heard any more back from the council about the drainage, that is one of the hold-ups for our side. That is our problem at this side.
“But it looks as though the bund is going to go ahead, which is good.
“We are getting on slowly but surely, the plasterboard is up now. Things are starting to take shape.
“The house is definitely so much better, it is taking shape now, it looks more like a house.”
“Some of my neighbours still haven’t started their rebuilding at all. But people are back in Canal Road, back in their houses. It is a lot better.”
