50 years ago: Summer floods leave Inverclyde under water after long dry spell (1975)
PEOPLE throughout the area were today counting the cost of damage caused yesterday when torrential rain swept through several homes and shops.
Areas badly hit by the flooding included Woodhall, where two families had to be rescued yesterday afternoon from their ground floor houses at 17 Woodhall Terrace.
Water started coming up through the floors of the houses as the rain continued throughout the day.
(Image: Archive)
(Image: Archive) By late afternoon both families - Mr and Mrs Mitchell and their nine-year-old son, and Mr and Mrs Stevenson and their little daughter of 18 months - had to be rehoused.
At Branchton an electric substation was struck by a flash of lightning and put the switch gear control out of action.
As a result, thousands of homes throughout Branchton, Braeside and Larkfield were without electricity supplies for several hours.
(Image: Archive) In Gourock 15 yards of tarmac was lifted from the road surface at the junction of Rodney Road and Clyde Road because drains were unable to cope with the amount of water gushing from the hill.
Further west in Gourock traffic was being diverted and controlled by police at Ashton Road where the water was well over a foot deep in places.
Homes in this area were particularly badly hit, too, when shortly after the downpour began at 9.30am, thousands of gallons of water rushed from the hill behind and poured into the ground floors of many houses.
Other Archive News
50 years ago: Greenock boy given driving award by Formula One champion (1975)
75 years ago: Three Greenockians meet thousands of miles from home (1950)
50 years ago: IBM workmates combined to create Inverclyde masterpieces (1975)
Also badly hit by the floodwater was the Gantock Hotel.
Several car drivers were in difficulties and found themselves stranded in many areas because of the high level of the water.
Many of the calls for help came from Larkfield district, where at Cumberland Road police were diverting traffic.
One car had to be abandoned after the water rose to steering wheel level.
(Image: Archive)
(Image: Archive) Floods were also extensive in Robert Street, Port Glasgow, during the late afternoon and police were called out to control traffic jams.
Traffic diversions were put into operation immediately and all vehicles were re-routed via Heggies Avenue and Clune Brae.
As the rain continued into today, it looked as if the only happy people in the area would be the Lower Clyde Water Board, who have been keeping a watchful eye on the state of the reservoirs during the recent long hot spell.
This article was first published on July 15, 1975.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
CWG Live updates: Serious flooding possible in storms later today
Welcome to updated around-the-clock by Capital Weather Gang meteorologists. Happening now: Another muggy morning as the chance for showers and storms increases into the afternoon and evening, when a flood watch takes effect. The National Weather Service warns 'significant' flash flooding is possible. What's next? Something absolutely awesome: While lingering showers are possible Friday, humidity and temperatures start to fall. By the weekend, we enjoy partly to mostly sunny skies, low humidity and very comfortable temperatures. Today's daily digit — 3/10: Heavy storms and possible flooding later today could be quite disruptive even if more clouds mean it's not as hot. | 🤚 Your call? The digit is a somewhat subjective rating of the day's weather, on a 0-to-10 scale. Forecast in detail Today (Thursday): Prepare to say goodbye to both July and this recent mini heat wave as increasing clouds cap highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. It's still very humid with showers and storms possible any time, but most likely in the afternoon and evening. Some storms could produce damaging wind gusts, but the potential for torrential rain and flooding is the greater concern. The heaviest storms could produce 1 to 2 inches of rain in just 30 minutes. Winds from the south are generally light, but gustier around storms. Confidence: Medium Tonight: Heavy evening storms are possible, while some scattered showers could linger overnight under mostly cloudy skies. Lows settle in the upper 60s and low 70s. Mostly light winds shift to come from the north late at night. Confidence: Medium Tomorrow (Friday): The cool front is not in a super hurry to sweep through, so it continues on the cloudy side with scattered showers around, especially in the morning. Highs in the mid- to upper 70s make this the coolest day since late June! Light winds from the north at 10 to 15 mph slowly draw in less humid air. Confidence: Medium Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy, cooler and more comfortable with lows by dawn in the upper 50s (!) to mid-60s. Confidence: Medium A look ahead The weekend into Monday fares fantastically with mostly sunny skies, highs in the low to mid-80s, and also — drum roll, please — low humidity (dew points in the 50s). Saturday and Sunday nights should feature mostly clear skies with lows in the upper 50s in our cooler areas and 60s elsewhere. Confidence: Medium-High The rest of next week starts to slowly reheat with highs in the upper 80s to near 90, while humidity builds back to more typical early-August levels. Thunderstorm chances also return Wednesday onward. Jason Samenow contributed to this forecast. Today's daily digit — 3/10: Heavy storms and possible flooding later today could be quite disruptive even if more clouds mean it's not as hot. | 🤚 Your call? The digit is a somewhat subjective rating of the day's weather, on a 0-to-10 scale. Forecast in detail Today (Thursday): Prepare to say goodbye to both July and this recent mini heat wave as increasing clouds cap highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. It's still very humid with showers and storms possible any time, but most likely in the afternoon and evening. Some storms could produce damaging wind gusts, but the potential for torrential rain and flooding is the greater concern. The heaviest storms could produce 1 to 2 inches of rain in just 30 minutes. Winds from the south are generally light, but gustier around storms. Confidence: Medium Tonight: Heavy evening storms are possible, while some scattered showers could linger overnight under mostly cloudy skies. Lows settle in the upper 60s and low 70s. Mostly light winds shift to come from the north late at night. Confidence: Medium Tomorrow (Friday): The cool front is not in a super hurry to sweep through, so it continues on the cloudy side with scattered showers around, especially in the morning. Highs in the mid- to upper 70s make this the coolest day since late June! Light winds from the north at 10 to 15 mph slowly draw in less humid air. Confidence: Medium Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy, cooler and more comfortable with lows by dawn in the upper 50s (!) to mid-60s. Confidence: Medium A look ahead The weekend into Monday fares fantastically with mostly sunny skies, highs in the low to mid-80s, and also — drum roll, please — low humidity (dew points in the 50s). Saturday and Sunday nights should feature mostly clear skies with lows in the upper 50s in our cooler areas and 60s elsewhere. Confidence: Medium-High The rest of next week starts to slowly reheat with highs in the upper 80s to near 90, while humidity builds back to more typical early-August levels. Thunderstorm chances also return Wednesday onward. Jason Samenow contributed to this forecast.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- CBS News
Severe storms Thursday in Philadelphia region to bring heavy rain, damaging winds. Here's the forecast.
Thursday will bring the fourth day in a row with a NEXT Weather Alert, though it will be due to storms and flooding, not necessarily the heat. It will be hot, but it won't be as hot as the previous days. Those showers and storms will develop ahead of an approaching cold front that will put an end to this heat wave and usher in much cooler air by Friday. They will also be bringing flooding rain and the chance for a severe storm or two, mainly in the form of damaging winds. The Storm Prediction Center has our area in a moderate risk for flooding, which is a 3 out of 4 on the risk scale. The primary time frame for the greatest impacts will be 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., with a heavy focus near the evening commute. On Friday, the high temps will likely only top out in the mid-low 70s, which is much closer to the record for the coldest high temp (69 degrees) than the normal high in the upper 80s. Friday is also the start of August and the start of an extended cooler stretch of air bringing relief from the heat through the first week of the month. Highs Friday and into the weekend will be in the upper 70s to low 80s, with morning low temps in the mid-low 60s. In fact, many places Sunday morning will likely be in the 50s. Thursday: NEXT Weather Alert for heavy rain. High 90, Low 76. Friday: Shower early. High 73, Low 67. Saturday: Beautiful. High 82, Low 64. Sunday: Sunny, nice. High 84, Low 62. Monday: Mostly sunny. High 85, Low 62. Tuesday: Mostly sunny. High 82, Low 64. Wednesday Showers possible. High 98, Low 78. NEXT Weather Radars Hourly Forecast
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
Kerrville emails, texts show local leaders spent hours unaware of flood's tragic toll
The CBS News Texas I-Team obtained dozens of text messages and emails exchanged between Kerrville city officials as they learned of the devastation caused by the Guadalupe River flooding on July Fourth. The texts, which began around 5:30 a.m. that day, first focused on the Independence Day festival planned at a city park. "Heavy rain in Hunt. Water is coming up at Louise Hayes. Port-a-potties floating away. The waterline is at the base of the stage right now," texted one assistant city manager. Another responded, "Are there still kids at camp in Hunt?" "Don't know," came the response. Minutes later, the city manager sent a group text to Kerrville city council members warning of "major flooding." One member responded, "Oh, my!! I didn't realize we had that much rain." Another texted, "Ugh!!! Not what we needed today." At 6:32 a.m., Kerrville police called for evacuations along several streets filled with RVs and apartments. Ten minutes later, the city sent a mass email warning residents to avoid driving down flooded streets: "Much needed rain swept through Kerrville overnight, but the downside is the severe weather may impact many of today's scheduled July 4th events." By 8:30 a.m., the mayor was signing a disaster declaration, but emails show it took another half hour for the emergency management coordinator to call in off-duty firefighters to help with rescue efforts. Just after 10 a.m., it appears the toll began to sink in for many council members. In the group chat, one message read, "Heard 32 missing from camps?!" Another replied, "I heard that too..." The city manager responded with updates on the rescue efforts and appeared to criticize the county's response at the time. "The county is reacting poorly to this but we are assisting, especially since we have unconfirmed reports of kids missing from Camp Mystic and some resorts out west. We are attempting to gain access but it's still an ongoing and developing situation." Hours later, at 6:14 p.m., another mention of the camps. The city manager texted the council, "We have three no-answer camps, Camp Mystic is the big one in question, all other camps are accounted for." Twenty-seven campers and counselors from Camp Mystic would later be confirmed dead. The texts also reveal personal connections and losses. One council member texted, "My friend is still waiting on word of his sister. Missing." The city attorney shared that one of his friends was among the dead, calling it a "devastating day" for the community. The next day, the city manager texted his team words of support: "Take the time you need, cry, grieve, hug someone, vent, anything so you can focus on getting back into the fight." He later added, "Most of our team have not been through a disaster of this scale. Many people don't go through disasters of this scale." Later, one city staffer shared, "Just watched crews pull a counselor out of debris, so that will stick with me."
