Moray residents were battling the elements again yesterday as strong gusts and intense rain brought more misery.
For the second time in a week, householders in Hopeman were hit by flooding overnight.
A river of water gushed down Forsyth Street yesterday morning to the horror of residents, adding to the problems caused by the week-long battering that left a sink-hole at the top of School Road, which may affect bus routing for the remainder of the week.
Marion Bateman, a Gordonstoun School music teacher, said: “I’m scared and nervous, and very worried about my insurance just like everybody else.
“I’m very frustrated because the flooding in this particular area has happened before and nothing has been done about it.
“I’ve contacted the Scottish Flood Forum about advice on how to make my home watertight, and I’m waiting to hear back from them.
“When your house has been flooded, the terror is that it might come back again and it has.
“The mucky water was about 6-8 inches high in the house and the stench of sediment was just awful and the dampness was appalling.
“The levels rise so quickly and that’s the scary thing.”
Plant-fitter Howard Nelson, 53, said: “I was on call at work, and the guy next door gave us a ring and said it was getting out of hand.
“The water up at the cross roads would have washed children away, it was that strong that you could hardly stand up.
“It’s happened before here, but the water was a foot deep in my downstairs, which is all damaged.
“This will take months to clean up.”
Mr Nelson’s neighbour Bev Winter, an environmental protection officer with SEPA, described himself as “a wet and disgruntled resident,” following a week of horrific weather.
The 51-year-old said: “The road was underwater, and my house is approximately 19 inches lower than that.
“The drain that my neighbour and I share obviously got blocked, with all the heavy, filthy water running through from the fields at the back.
“I woke up at about 1am, got the shorts and flip-slops on and started moving stuff up stairs.
“It’s not nice to be knee-deep in water in the middle of the night, but you just get on with it. Such is life.”
Heldon and Laich councillor Chris Tuke said: “We met with some residents today, and we had an initial meeting to access the situation.
“A council team checked the drains, and they were relatively clear by all accounts.
“The problem has been identified as water running off the fields, but how to fix that is not yet clearly apparent.
“Obviously, it won’t be a quick fix, but we need to look at it to see what can be done.
“We’ve had extraordinary levels of rain, and I just hope we can get things sorted out.”
Local councillors and residents have arranged a further meeting on Friday, August 22.