City mops up misery after freak storm
outlets such as Our Place cafe in Murray Place and Bank of Scotland’s Stirling branch were closed completely. Staff in some shops on the south side of Port Street discovered their basements had been flooded with a couple of inches of water.
And the Wallace Street Tesco store remains closed after rainwater gushed through the ceiling.
Water seeped into Port Street businesses including Semi Chem, Laura Ashley, The Works and estate agents Aberdein Considine. Aberdein Considine branch manager Stephen Simpson, who was mopping up in the street level office yesterday morning, told the Observer:“The water has reached right up into the offices and the board room on the ground floor, about 10 metres from the entrance. Fortunately it didn’t go all the way back. However, we have a big office here and we have been able to relocate our staff upstairs. We’re still open for business.”
Aberdein Considine partner Anthony Quin added:“A friend phoned at 11pm last night about the flooding and I came out to have a look. There were puddles of water over the ground floor. I started cleaning up as best as I could but it would have taken me hours to lift the water at that point. We haven’t been able to look at our basement yet. I hope it’s unaffected.”
The Mountain Warehouse store across the street was however closed on Tuesday morning due to flooding.
The company’s Scotland manager Allan Gray explained yesterday: “Some water did get in underneath the door of the store soaking the carpet. However, it didn’t damage any product. We weren’t badly affected by it.
“We are at a higher level than some of the shops opposite like Semi Chem and Laura Ashley.
“We closed the store to allow the carpet at the front of the door to dry out. We expect to be open again later this morning.”
A spokesperson for Thistles said the shopping centre was open and trading as normal, adding:“The heavy rain has caused some flooding in the area and the temporary closure of the T1 car park and toilet, where teams are working to reopen the facilities as soon as possible. In the meantime, T2 car park is open as normal.”
Footage posted on social media shows water pouring into Tesco’s Wallace Street premises through a burst ceiling. Shoppers who called the store’s customer service on Tuesday were told that the store would likely be closed for the rest of the week while it waits for a contractor to assess the damage and fix the roof.
The store had been badly flooded and the pharmacy was the only part of the store open to the public. Shoppers were told to call back later in the week to find out when the store will reopen.
Sainsbury’s Raploch store was also affected by flooding coming through the ceiling and was closed temporarily on Tuesday night.
However, it reopened yesterday (Tues). A Sainsbury’s spokesperson added however: “The Argos within the store remains closed while we fix damage caused by the extreme weather but will reopen as soon as possible. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)’s area leader for the West of Scotland Catriona Cripps, also of Stirling-based business consultancy Wildcat Solutions, said:“It is incredibly sad to see many small businesses in the city centre have been affected by flooding. We have been speaking to FSB’s members and offering help where possible, but for those affected, full recovery could take some time. My heart goes out to them as a fellow business owner. It is important that any business affected by flooding contact their insurers as soon as possible in order to start the claims process.
“While the council is hard at work cleaning up streets and public places, affected business owners are assessing the extent of damage at the moment. We will continue working with our members and see if there is need for additional support from the council and government.”