A WHOLE Cardenden street was devastated by the downpour which struck as several thunderstorms grouped together and hit the area.

For more than five hours torrential rain pounded the area in the early hours of Wednesday and with the Den Burn and River Ore bursting their banks water raced down Station Road and Cardenden Road.

It meant that water poured into homes in Cardenden Road and over the weekend residents were counting the cost of the results of the worst rainstorm to hit the area for more than three decades.

Many were told that their home insurance did not cover them because the damage caused to their property was by a storm.

One of the couples struck by this blow was Dennis and Yvonne Currie whose daughter Lauren Gryzbowski explained how the water hitting the Cardenden Road homes was more than a foot deep and it wrecked furniture, electrical appliances and clothing.

Lauren, who is six months pregnant, has spent days trying to help her mum and dad by finding out if the insurance cover is right about not including storms.

She said: "I cannot believe how the cover for flooding does not include storm damage.

"My dad included details about the River Ore being quite close to their home but they have said that when he received the details of the policy there would have been a pop-up message explaining this.

"The thing was he carried out the transaction on his phone not a laptop and he does not remember seeing any pop-up messages.

"There are a lot of other residents who are receiving the same information from their insurance companies.

"I am trying to get some advice from an ombudsman about this situation for mum and dad."

Yvonne and Dennis are currently living with Lauren and her husband and family in Kinross.

Local councillor and convener of Cowdenbeath Area Committee, Linda Erskine agrees that advice from an ombudsman is something that is needed.

Ms Erskine said: "Cardenden Road has been devastated by this incredible storm.

"Virtually every home has been hit seriously by the raging torrent of water that headed up the street and families have been counting the cost.

"Some have policies that cover what has happened but several have small print which omits damage caused by storms.

"That seems strange how flooding caused by storms is omitted but if a pipe bursts it is covered.

"There are a lot of people needing some expert advice on this".

People spent the weekend trying to remove ruined furniture and wrecked equipment into skips provided by Lochgelly company Purvis Group.

Councillor Erskine added: "It was good of Purvis to bring the skips down and it has helped people try to clean some of the mess caused but this is something that has devastated people's lives.

"It is going to take a lot of time to get things sorted out but the council has to be there to provide the sort of information they need and help where it can."

MP for Cardenden Peter Grant visited Cardenden Road on Monday: “My office is following up the concerns of constituents who have contacted us directly.

"I personally don't remember ever seeing such heavy rain falling for such a long time over such a widespread area, and this has obviously placed enormous pressure on those across Fife who responded during the emergency and those who have been involved since.

"Responsibility for co-ordinating the response lies primarily with Fife Council and I know that my colleague, Councillor Rosemary Liewald, has been active in helping residents who need the Council's support.

"Once the immediate crisis has passed I would expect the Council to review their response, including the concerns raised by residents, to see what lessons need to be learned.”

Local MSP, Annabelle Ewing, has written to the Scottish Government Finance Secretary, Kate Forbes asking that the Bellwin Scheme be activated following recent flooding damage caused in her constituency, with particular reference to Cardenden which has been very badly affected but also for other parts of her constituency.

The Bellwin scheme is intended to reimburse the cost of local authority actions taken in the immediate phase of an emergency

Speaking on Monday Ms Ewing said: “There is absolutely no doubt that the level of rainfall experienced here in my Cowdenbeath constituency last week was extreme and my heart goes out to those of my constituents whose properties were compromised by floodwaters.

“There is a process known as the Bellwin Scheme which allows for the reimbursement to local authorities of the actions that they have taken in the immediate phase of an emergency. I have written to the Finance Secretary asking that it be activated, in particular with reference to Cardenden which has been very badly affected.

“Flood damage in this area has been considerable and there is concern that insurers may not pay out on claims.

“Many of those affected are elderly folk in private houses who have seen thousands of pounds of damage done to their homes. Some might not have been insured. Others are reporting insurers saying that flood damage is excluded from their cover.

“I hope that, in the short term, the Council can provide some assistance to them and that the support from the Bellwin Scheme will be able to back that up, although I am aware that costs which are regarded as insurable cannot be reimbursed.”

Ms Ewing concluded: “I am keeping in close contact with representatives of the affected communities and I am extremely aware that we have more rain forecast and there is a concern that drains still blocked with debris from the initial flooding could contribute to further problems.”