An 11th hour attempt will be made today to persuade council bosses to spend £20million on preventing a repeat of a tragic accident that claimed the lives of a family of five.
Islanders want openings cut in a causeway that carries the road between the islands of Benbecula and South Uist, so sea water can escape.
The campaigners include Davy Macpherson, whose nephew Archie Macpherson drowned along with his wife Murdina, their two young children Hannah and Andrew, and Murdina’s father Calum Campbell when their car were overwhelmed by floodwater during a ferocious storm in January 2005.
The family had been trying to escape when the causeway at Iochdar in South Uist acted like a dam and neighbouring villages were engulfed.
A decade on from the tragedy, islanders are furious that members of Western Isles Council’s transport committee have voted against creating openings and bridges in the causeway to leave channels for water escape.
Last night Mr Macpherson said the council had to listen to the community to spare other families the heartache that his had suffered over the last 10 years.
“We don’t want anyone to have that happen to them,” he said.
Councillors examined various options before ruling that the £20million estimated price tag for the causeway work was not cost-effective.
Members will instead be asked to consider a cheaper option of repairing a barrier of sand and shingle when the full council meets in Stornoway today.
However, a last ditch attempt will be made by South Uist councillor Ronnie Mackinnon to reverse the previous decision.
Mr Mackinnon said that if the local authority could not afford to finance the work itself, it had to do more to explore funding avenues for building the sea channels.
He suggested lobbying the Scottish Government and inviting South Uist community landlord, Storas Uibhist, to contribute to the cost.
Mr Mackinnon wants councillors to visit Uist to hear the strength of local feeling for themselves.
Norman Macdonald, convener of Western Isles Council, insisted installing sea channels would not be eligible for Scottish Government funding.
He added: “That is really what has driven the council to go for the option which does not include breaking up the causeway. The council can only do what we are able to do.”
However, last night Mr Macpherson said he feared a repeat of the 2005 tragedy if the local authority failed to heed Mr Mackinnon’s pleas.
He said: “We are trying our best to get that opening in the causeway to try and prevent a tragic accident happening to someone else.
“I don’t believe it would cost as much as £20million.”
The family are continuing to seek a fatal accident inquiry, and want the impact of the causeway design and any changes to the original construction plans to be a focal point of any investigation.