Heavy rainfall brought chaos to much of the north yesterday, causing landslips, closing roads, flooding and cutting-off homes and hampering care at Raigmore Hospital.
Some residents were left effectively trapped in their houses as mounds of earth slid onto roads south of Inverness and then closed diversion routes.
Train services between Inverness and the south were also disrupted until the afternoon, with replacement busses in operation.
And in the city itself, some basement properties were filled with more than a foot of water, forcing one owner to evacuate guests.
Waiting rooms within the accident and emergency department at Raigmore had to be closed after water poured into the building on Wednesday morning.
Patients were greeted by green and white tape and directed to a makeshift waiting room to the rear of the department as estates staff removed much of the roof to assess the damage.
Ambulance crews were also forced to access the department through the temporary entrance until the repairs were completed shortly before 1pm.
The disruption came amidst widespread travel disruption and as residents and businesses counted the cost of overnight downpours.
A landslip closed the B852 route between Dores and Foyers, around a mile south of Dores.
Some residents were soon unable to leave their homes following a further landslip on the B862 road at Loch Ceo Glais – the diversion route north towards Inverness.
Significant amounts of debris had to be cleared before the routes could be reopened by late afternoon.
A number of trains between Inverness and Carrbridge were cancelled before services resumed around 12.30pm.
The closure came after the River Dulnain burst its banks, prompting SEPA to issue a flood warning for the area as more than two inches of rain fell in the area in just 36 hours.
Affected passengers were placed on replacement bus services south where they could connect with services from Aviemore, or continue southbound on Citylink bus services.
Additional temporary closures occurred on the railway line during parts of the afternoon due to flooding, with lowered speeds put in place to allow trains to pass the build-up of water.
At Raigmore, Jane Buckley, divisional general manager for the medical division, apologised for the inconvenience but said the temporary measures put in place had ensured the accident and emergency department remained fully operational.
The waiting room reopened to the public at about 12.45pm, with flooring said to have sustained most of the damage – and soaked up large parts of the heavy downpour.
It is not the first time the north’s largest hospital has experienced operational issues due to flooding.
In October 2017, rainwater leaked into a basement containing the hardware for the hospitals IT systems, resulting in significant damage and the cancellation operations as staff experienced difficulties in accessing x-rays, lab results and patient files.
Across the city, residents in Hilton required assistance from the fire service after flash flooding filled basements, with water rising to knee height in at least one home.
One resident, who asked not to be named, was even forced to evacuate guests after water burst into basement accommodation and rose to the full height of the bed.
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The woman said: “My partner began hearing the rain coming down around 2am and it woke me moments later.
“It was horrendous. I have never seen or heard anything like it.
“We have stayed here for more than 10 years and have never had flooding of this kind.”
Yesterday, Scottish Water engineers were on the scene at Burn Road to help with the clean-up operation.
There was also significant flooding in the Culloden area, with motorists urged to take care on all local roads.
Sandbags were given out to the owners of several properties in Grantown and Laggan.
Highland Council has warned that further rainfall is likely to cause additional flooding from watercourses.
