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.
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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.
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