The main street in Aberfoyle flooded after heavy rain over the weekend
A community hall in Stirlingshire is distributing emergency food supplies after the village’s only supermarket flooded.
Water in Aberfoyle reached knee-height over the weekend after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning.
On Saturday, large areas of Scotland saw the equivalent of a month’s average rainfall.
The Co-op in the village was forced to close and could remain shut until the end of the week.
The flooding also caused residential oil tanks to tip over and sparked pollution fears.
NHS Forth Valley urged anyone concerned about being exposed to oil residue to contact ambulance crews on site.
The village hall was designated a distribution centre for those who cannot travel further away for food and essentials.
Community volunteer Beverley Clark told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme how the main street started “filling up” on Saturday morning.
“The River Forth had burst its banks,” she said.
“By 10:30, it was up into the main street and they were getting ready to close the supermarket because the water was coming in through the doors of the Co-op.
“And by about 12:00, the whole area was cut off. It was coming up really fast.”
She said the only supermarket served a wide area around Aberfoyle, including Kinlochard and Gartmore.
A Co-op spokesman said the water was knee-high in the village’s shop, and initial assessments suggested the shop may not open until the end of the week.
Image source, Alison Graham
Locals have donated food supplies for those in need
“A deep clean will also be required before the store is able to re-open,” he said.
“It is too early to confirm when the store will re-open, while assessments into any damage caused is awaited”
Before it was forced to close, the Co-op donated some perishable food to the village hall collection.
Locals and charities have also donated amid concerns for people cut off from the community due to the flooded roads.
Ms Clark told BBC Scotland how people were trapped in the Forrest Hills Hotel for three days with limited food and no medicine.
“We also had two residential oil tanks tip over in the village which pur out fuel oil into the flood waters,” she said.
“That’s now in people’s basements and if the water comes back up again, that contamination is going to come back up.”
A NHS Forth Valley spokesperson said the flooding had been “exacerbated after kerosene entered the water course, posing a potential threat to public health in the area.”
They urged people “to be extra careful if floodwater has entered their homes as there can be significant health risks for certain groups such as pregnant women, children, elderly and those living with heart and lung conditions.”
Image source, Tyler Sorochka
Roads were flooded across the local area, including Kinlochard
Most roads around the area are no longer flooded, but a yellow weather warning for rain in Argyll, Glasgow and the West Highlands is in place from 06:00 to 21:00 on Tuesday.
It is expected that 15-25mm of rainfall will fall, with 40-50mm possible on high ground.
This volume of rainfall would not usually warrant a warning, but the Met Office said it was a concern after the rainfall at the weekend.
“If it comes down really heavy, it is a worry,” said Ms Clark. “We’ve already got saturated grounds and very full lochs and rivers.
“It could all come up again, and the worst thing is the blocking of the roads – cutting people off from the community.”
