HAUGH PARK, PHOTO BY MATT HOOPER
16 AUGUST, 2022 - SHANK MEDIA, BY MATT HOOPER: AFTER THE LONG HOT SUMMER COMES THE DELUGE MANY WILL SAY, BUT THE STORMS WHICH LASHED CUPAR ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING WERE NO NORMAL POST HOT WEATHER EVENT IN SCOTLAND. THE FIRST RAIN FELL, ACCOMPANIED BY THUNDER, AT AROUND 6.30PM ON SUNDAY EVENING, BEFORE THE LATER AND MORE SEVERE STORM ARRIVED AROUND 11PM. MONTHS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AND DRY WEATHER AND LED TO STORMY CONDITIONS OVER SCOTLAND.
THE BELOW IMAGE IS OF DUNDEE, BUT SIMILAR SCENES LIT UP THE NIGHT SKY IN CUPAR. THE VICIOUS THUNDER AND LIGHTNING WAS ACCOMPANIED BY FEROCIOUS AND INTENSE RAIN, AND IT WAS MORE LIKE LIVING IN FLORIDA THAN FIFE. OVER 20MM OF RAIN FELL ON CUPAR OVER APPROXIMATELY TWO 3 HOUR PERIODS LATE ON SUNDAY AND EARLY ON MONDAY, WHICH IS ALMOST THE SAME AS THE WHOLE OF JULY, IN JUST A FEW HOURS.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE STORM AROUND WHERE I LIVE WAS SHORT TERM LOW LEVEL FLOODING, WITH WATER RUSHING DOWN THE STREETS INTO THE RAPIDLY FILLING DRAINS, BUT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TOWN TO ME THE LOCALISED IMACT WAS MUCH MORE SEVERE. CERES ROAD, ROBERTSON ROAD, HOGARTH DRIVE AND SANDYHILL ROAD SAW LARGE AMOUNTS OF MUD AND SAND WASHED OFF THE LOCAL COUNTRY PATHS AND HILLSIDE INTO THE TOWN, MAKING THE ROADS AND PATHS TREACHEROUS FOR DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS ALIKE, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE CASTLEHILL SCHOOL.
FIFE COUNCIL TOOK MUCH OF THE DAY TO CLEAN UP THE MUD, BUT WITH THIS SORT OF WEATHER EVENT ONLY BECOMING MORE REGULAR IN THE FUTURE IT IS A HAZARD WHICH LOCALS AND THE COUNCIL MAY HAVE TO DEAL WITH MANY MORE TIMES.
STORM DAMAGE IN CUPAR, PHOTO BY MATT HOOPER
CUPAR RESIDENTS ARE USED TO WINTER FLOODING FROM RIVER EDEN, BUT THERE IS NO DOUBT ACCORDING TO PROJECTIONS THAT THIS WILL BECOME A MUCH MORE REGULAR EVENT, AND PROPERTIES AND BUSINESSES WHICH LIE ALONGSIDE THE RIVER EDEN MAY BE AT RISK. THE FEROCITY OF THIS WEEK'S STORM MEANT THAT MUCH OF THE WATER DEPOSITED ON US HIT THE ROCK HARD GROUND AND RAN OFF INTO PUDDLES, CAUSING SOME VERY LOCALISED FLOODING, AS WELL AS THE ABOVE DAMAGE.
BUT RAIN WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING WAS NOT SUSTAINED ENOUGH TO HAVE TOO MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE ON WATER LEVELS IN THE RIVER EDEN, AND WHILST FARMERS WILL BE HAPPY WITH AT LEAST SOME RELIEF TO THEIR WATER PROBLEMS, MUCH OF IT WOULD HAVE DONE MORE HARM THAN GOOD.
SADLY THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IS BEING FELT RIGHT NOW, AND THERE IS NO DOUBT IT WILL BECOME WORSE AND MORE REGULAR OVER THE COMING YEARS, SO IN THE SHORT TERM WE HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO CLEAN UP MORE MESS CAUSED BY FLASH FLOODS AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
IN THE FUTURE TO PROTECT AGAINST THE RESULTS OF SUCH EVENTS CUPAR, ALONG WITH OTHER TOWNS ACROSS SCOTLAND, MAY HAVE TO CONSIDER BUILDING THE SORTS OF STORM DRAINS SEEN IN PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES. WE ALSO SHOULD BE CONSIDERING HOW WE CAN USE THE RIVER EDEN AND THE HILLS AROUND THE EDGE OF THE TOWN TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY FOR THE TOWN, REDUCING EMISSIONS AND USING THE RENEWABLE SOURCES AROUND US.
HAUGH PARK FLOODED AFTER HEAVY RAIN IN OCTOBER 2020 FORCED THE RIVER EDEN TO BURST ITS BANKS, PHOTO BY MATT HOOPER
