Flooding an ‘occupational hazard’ for Caithness farmers
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FARMERS in the Far North have reported no significant damage to their businesses despite their land being flooded due to prolonged downpours.
The banks of the River Thurso and Wick River failed to contain the heavy rain, which was accompanied by strong winds which battered Caithness on Tuesday and Wednesday when gusts of up to 60 mph swept through the area.
Among the worst hit flood areas were Haster in the east and Halkirk in the west, with fields near the riverbanks submerged in several feet of water.
Local farmers said that they did not expect the flooding to pose any long-term problems for their businesses.
George Ronaldson (60), of Lower Milton Farm, Haster, predicted that the water would disappear off his ground by the weekend.
“I would estimate that around of 20 acres of my land has been affected by the riverbanks bursting, but it hasn’t caused any damage to our property or livestock,” he said.
“It is a common thing in this area that when there is heavy rain parks will inevitably become flooded, but it has never caused any major issues in the past.”
His views were echoed by William Ironside (80), of Haster Farm, who said with the exception of access to his field, he didn’t see the flooding as a major problem.
“The flooding has been worse than usual, but nothing desperate has happened to us as a result of it,” he said.
“Some of our fences have been submerged in a few feet of water and have cut off routes to cross the fields. But there is no major damage to our land and we would expect everything to return to normal within a few days.
“We are used to having our land flooded during adverse weather conditions, but in the agricultural industry that is what we refer to as an occupational hazard.”
Landward Caithness councillor David Flear said that despite fields in the Halkirk area being affected by the flooding, the only real issue was with the sewerage system, with several toilets in Church Street being backed up due to the heavy rain.
Northern Constabulary reported that parts of road between Wick and Thurso had suffered from minor flooding but it had not caused any major issues.
Sergeant Peter Allan said that they did receive calls yesterday morning from motorists who had encountered flooded roads across the county.
“Roads have been able to stay open during the week and there has been no major damage reported as a result of the weather,” he said.
“We have received a number of calls and we advised drivers to take care when driving in wet conditions.”
