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£10 MILLION LIBRARY OPENING CALLED OFF; DIY SANDBAGS FOR OLD FOLK AND POOR PLANNING BRING FLOODING MAYHEM TO WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE

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by BILL HEANEY

The opening of the new £10 million Glencairn Library and Museum on Dumbarton High Street has been delayed after it suffered serious damage during Storm Boelo over the weekend.
A Council spokesperson who apologized for the mayhem said: “As a result of the storm damage, we will no longer be able to open as planned on 16 November.”
She added: “We are assessing the extent of the damage and will share an updated timeline as soon as we can.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work through this.
“Dumbarton Library will remain open during this period.
“During the week beginning 26th October, Dumbarton Library will be open Monday to Friday 9.30 am – 5 pm.”
The announcement was met with dismay by library members who, with many others in shops, businesses and family homes throughout the West Dunbartonshire area, criticised the council for their lack of planning, especially since the library, which backs onto the swift-flowing River Leven and Dumbarton Quay, has been known for the past century as being vulnerable to flooding.
There had been plenty of early warnings that Storm Beolo was on its way, and The Dumbarton Democrat published a spread of pictures illustrating exactly what would happen when the storm eventually struck.
One Democrat reader, Stephen Paul, said: “I’d have thought flood defences would be part of the design given how notorious that area is for flooding.”
Another, Moira Neil Grindlay, commented: “You would think extra flood defence would have been built in; it’s a known flood area” 
Stephanie Watson-Orr commented: “West Dunbartonshire Council must have known this was a flood risk area yet didn’t factor this in to the design or indeed, the decision to move the library to Glencairn House in the first place?
“Questions should be asked as to the competence of our decision makers and their seeming misuse of public funds.”
Susan Dailey said: “Dumbarton needs proper flood defenses. This can’t keep happening. I really feel for the libraries team themselves, but their bosses higher in the council should have ensured that the new library wasn’t at risk by doing something about Dumbarton’s near total lack of flood preparedness.”
Wilma Wood added: “Books floating along High Street instead of swans.
Dumbarton’s poet in residence, Stephen Watt, said: “That’s a crying shame. The full town has been hit. The fencing is off by the Castle; there are old lawnmowers washed up by the stadium, and then the flooding at golf courses, roads, etc. Hopefully you’ll get in before Christmas!”

A caravan is blown in its side on a beachside road. It has two bikes attached to the backHigh, gusting winds blew a tourist caravan carrying bicycles over on a shoreside road.

At 1 pm on Tuesday, the rain and wind had not gone away.

Two new weather warnings have been issued as a third storm, which broke over the weekend, is set to batter the country again today in the midst of a major clean-up of damage caused by floods and gale-force winds up to 80mph. Tuesday.

The Met Office said gusts of up to 65mph (105km/h) would hit coastal communities in the south-west on Monday evening and into the morning.

Forecasters such as Lucy Veraswamy, pictured left, added that strong winds would be accompanied by heavy rain at certain points.

At 1 am today (Tuesday), it was extremely wet and windy in Dumbarton, but forecasters said the latest weather system is unlikely to be as widely disruptive as Storm Boelo – or Storm Austen, which came before it – and has so far not been named.

The next name on the storm list for the 2026/2027 season is Chloe.

Storm Boelo brought heavy flooding and wind gusts in some areas of up to 85mph (137km/h) on Monday.

A 60-year-old man died after being struck by a falling tree at Mid Kelton, near Castle Douglas, in Dumfries and Galloway on Sunday.

Last night, Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN), which covers the north of Scotland, said work was ongoing to reconnect the supplies of about 15,000 homes that remained without power.

Meanwhile, Scottish Power Energy Networks (Spen) said all but a “very small number” of its 50,000 customers who lost power in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway would have it restored by 02:00 on Tuesday.  Almost 100,000 homes had power restored in both areas across the weekend.

In Arrochar, north of Loch Lomond and the Gareloch, with the electricity currently off due to the storm, the Loch Long Hotel sent out a message to villagers: we would like to welcome anyone affected to come along to Loch Long Hotel.

It said: “We’ll have tea, coffee, hot soup and sandwiches available, and you’re more than welcome to come in, get warm and have something to eat and drink while the power is off.
“Please feel free to pop in — and if you know of any neighbours, elderly residents or anyone else who may need somewhere warm, please let them know too. Loch Long Hotel. Supporting our local community when it matters most.”

Rail and ferry disruption

ScotRail said the “vast majority” of its services were running as normal.

However, it warned that speed restrictions would be in place on several routes until 16:00 on Tuesday due to heavy rainfall. They are:

The West Highland Line from Glasgow Queen Street to Oban and Mallaig was kept running, as was Glasgow Queen Street to Helensburgh Central.

West Coast ferry operator CalMac said many of its services remained liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice and urged travellers to check its website for updates.

John Paul Lusk/Leven Films

Dumbarton Golf Club at Broadmeadow was almost completely underwater after the River Leven burst its banks on Sunday

School closures

West Dunbartonshire Council refused to comment to The Dumbarton Democrat about the prospects for resumption of school openings in this region.

The aftermath of Storm Boelo across Scotland

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said it had put an amber risk of flooding in place for the southwest and Argyll and the Firth of Clyde would experience volatile conditions, with large waves and strong winds.

They said flooding of low-lying land was likely. Given that there was serious flooding on the flat land leading down to Dumbarton Castle, Lomondgate and Broadmeadow, some people questioned why these areas had ever received planning permission for house building.

Police Scotland said a high risk of disruption remained with poor weather conditions expected later today.

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said that, although the amber weather warning was no longer in place, disruption was “likely well beyond that due to further poor weather, fallen trees and other damage caused by the storm”.

Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told BBC Scotland News there were “challenges ahead” due to the prolonged nature of the conditions.

She urged councils to review their readiness, adding authorities were working to ensure that “everything that can be done is being done”.

Somerville also said that everyone can play a part by getting “households as resilient as we can, as well as looking after neighbours and friends”.

However, there were complaints that West Dunbartonshire Council had once again let the public down by NOT putting special arrangements into place.

The Council would not discuss this with The Democrat or tell us why householders had to pick up heavy sandbags themselves from the car park at the Council headquarters.

On a rotten morning when the rain was lashing down and the wind blowing like stink, elderly residents in Dumbarton were still turning up at The Concord for their flu jabs.

The Council’s Care at Home Service kept going, with the carers bravely battling through the storm to attend to the elderly and infirm local people they look after.

All the usual places, such as High Street, Castle Street, the St James’ Park retail park, Levengrove Park, Silverton, and Castlegreen Street, made walking or driving impossible. Many people were stuck at home.

Lomond Radio broadcast messages to householders about the emergency – A flood warning from SEPA remains in place for Dumbarton. Further impacts are expected around the time of high tide at around 12:51 pm on Sunday 25th October.

West Dunbartonshire Council teams attended the High Street to distribute flood sacks at key areas. They said residents and business owners should take action to help protect themselves and their property now.
The COUNCIL’S ONE AND ONLY gully vehicle to cover the whole region was out and about to attend to residual flooding in the Dumbarton area, and Greenspace operatives were on hand to clear trees if they were causing a road blockage or safety concern.
You can still report any localized flooding through the Council emergency line on 0800 37 36 35
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