Firefighters and residents battled to clear water from homes after they were flooded following torrential rain.
Householders blamed block drains and demanded urgent action from Highland Council to stop their properties being swamped again.
One was left surveying the damage caused by three inches of water throughout her bungalow.
The drama happened in Caithness, where fire crews spent several hours pumping water from homes and gardens.
A night of heavy rain swelled already high water levels across the county.
Emergency teams dealt with calls from Halkirk, Haster and Watten, Papigoe, Wick and Ackergill.
Shona Horton, 44, who moved into her home in Halkirk’s Church Street a year ago, said: “We first noticed at about 8.30am. I saw water surrounding the house and up to the doorstep and I called the fire brigade, who arrived quite promptly and started pumping out.
“What transpired was a drainage problem. The drain that they were wanting to pump the water out to was blocked.”
As the pumping operation continued, Mrs Horton said she was aware of previous flooding in 2006.
“It still hasn’t put us off,” she said. “It’s still a lovely little house. But the drainage system obviously can’t cope with the amount of people that live here now.”
Grant Kay, 51, a teacher at Farr High School who lives on the nearby corner with Sinclair Lane, had a narrow escape but only by stepping in with the help of neighbours to unblock pipes themselves.
He said: “I woke up this morning to the sound of a pump. When I looked out of my window, my garden was under about six or seven inches of water. It was slowly getting up to my front door.
“I’ve been out with eight or nine of my neighbours and managed to clear drains and move water. The council arrived and we used some sandbags to divert the water.”
He added: “The fire service have been absolutely brilliant about helping to clear the drains.
“They were all blocked and, I think, because of the way Halkirk has been built in the past, having a few houses and others added in, the drainage system is a bit ad hoc.”
He said he too would be contacting the council to arrange a visit to assess the drainage system.
No one could be contacted at Highland Council yesterday.
Area police inspector Nick Clasper said: “The response of everybody involved, in challenging circumstances has been excellent.
“The council workers were called out early. They’ve worked tirelessly in really testing conditions to deal with flooding incidents across the county.”
The pumping of a flooded ditch also led to the main A836 Thurso-Dounreay route being closed for a time.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said a “flood warning or severe flood warning” remained in force for the whole of Caithness and much of north-west Sutherland.