Published: Tuesday, 16th June, 2009 9:49am
FLASH FLOOD LEADS TO TRAVEL CHAOS
by Jenny Foulds
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EmailA82 is closed for FIVE hours
FLASH flooding caused 'pandemonium' on one of the main routes through Dumbarton and the Vale at the weekend.
A freak storm caused up to 3ft of water to block the A82 at Dumbuck in Dumbarton late on Sunday afternoon.
And this caused traffic chaos, which lasted for around five hours, as police and the fire service tried to clear up the deluge.
But some drivers unfortunately caught up in the jam, which stretched from the Renton turn off on the trunk road until the Erskine Bridge, have spoken about the motor madness caused by the tailback.
Editor of our sister paper, the Helensburgh Advertiser, David Carnduff was one of the hundreds caught up in the flash flood, which occurred after the drainage system at that stretch of the A82 was overrun during a sudden deluge of bad weather.
He told the Reporter: 'I was coming back from Helensburgh in the afternoon when the weather was gloriously sunny.
'As I reached the Milton area the skies darkened and there was a sudden thunder storm with torrential rain and hail.
'The side streets in the village were running like rivers into the main road, and the traffic began to slow down to a crawl.'
David continued: 'I saw a fire engine and I saw police bringing a dinghy in as they tried to get traffic moving again, we had to bump up on the pavement at the Milton services to get past. I have never seen such flooding, there were quite a few people who were unfortunate, whose cars gave out on them during the flood.
'At one point I though my car wouldn"t make it, but luckily it did - I was stuck in it for around an hour-and-a-half, but there were many more who would have been caught up in it much, much longer.'
According to Dumbarton Fire Service, at one point there were five separate tenders out trying to aid those stuck in the jams, which lasted between 4.30pm and 9.30pm.
