I've only started this thread because so many lovely members of Scotsgait have been asking after me because of the flood in my home town of Newmilns. Our house is fine though it did have a river running around it at some points however as you will see from the video, some people were not so lucky. (I'll also add some photos to the gallery.)
We had no trouble with flooding until they started doing flood defence work.
the other problem is that there is only one road runs through the town so it is hard for the emergency services to reach us when the road is flooded.
Thanks again for all your concern and I'm happy to say that the road has finally reopened so we can rejoin the rest of the world.

Glad to hear you're OK Meg.

Flood defences are a complete misnomer they are actually flood displacement measures...they shunt the water somewhere else.

If you want to prevent flooding you don't improve the drainage and run-off from an area. What you need to do is improve the rate at which all areas soak up water and release it slowly over time.

So the answer is to plant forests upstream, and create bogs and marshlands which soak up the rain and release it gradually.

But then this isn't high-tech and sexy and the psuedo-scientific 'technology can solve everything brigade' can't get research grants and make a buck on it.

But it actually WORKS. It takes a few years for the trees etc to grow but its cheaper, cost effective, environmentally friendly, aesthetically pleasing and self-sustaining so what more could you ask?

Why won't our politicians and planners implement it?

Answers on a postcard to.....

I hope you have wellies Meg. Glad to hear things have improved a bit.

Still more rain though so much for summer.

I hope things are improving Meg. I uses to have flooding in another house, and I can understand your dilemma.

Can I add my good wishes to those above?

Look efter yersel!!

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes both here and by pm. As you can imagine, there's been quite a clean up but things are getting back to normal. Of course some poor souls have lost a lot and one shop (selling furniture) has lost all its stock.
Agree with everything you say about flood defence Bananaman. This town is about 500 years old and the bit that flooded (2nd time in a year) is an old bit of the town where people have always lived and of course, they would not have settled there in the first place if it flooded. There seems to be two problems. First is the main river. In the video, that is where all the water runs to when it goes over the wall. In the past, it flooded naturally further downstream. We are basically a rural area and so this was not a problem - just some fields flooded and some happy ducks. However, now bits of it have been built on and so they have put defences to protect the buildings in that area. They narrowed the river upstream so it is more likely to flood elsewhere.
The second problem is that there are burns that run into the river and these are what caused the flooding. As the river is now at a higher level, it is affecting the way in which they are flowing into the river. Also, because of cutting down trees above these burns, they cause a deluge when it rains. Everything you are saying Bananaman. You don't fancy becoming a planner for our area - we'd welcome you with open arms!