THE problems being faced by the families of Cardenden Road really are so very harsh.

What happened that night on August 11, and in the early hours of Wednesday 12th, will never be forgotten by the villagers of Cardenden.

To have more than 20 homes swamped by floodwater is something people normally see on their TV news bulletins, never really thinking it could happen in their own community.

However, what has happened since has compounded the whole situation.

The people whose insurance companies say that their flooding provision does not cover 'storm damage' are facing grave difficulties as they come to terms with the damage caused, which is estimated at upwards of in excess of £40,000, in most cases.

The Residents Group are finding the situation they have found very frustrating but they have put the insurance issue in the hands of the Ombudsman.

Hopefully that may bring some positive movement on this, but meantime families are having to do the best they can to get stricken homes cleared and start on looking at what can be done to begin repair work.

The hundreds of thousands of gallons of floodwater that hit Cardenden Road over a period of a few hours left its clear mark in every home. In last week's Times Transportation convener of Fife Council, Altany Craik, made his concern well known that the local authority no longer has the personnel to deal with these sort of crises after years of budget trimmings.

It was a highly unusual deluge, with several thunderstorms coming together to cause the massive downpour, but as this past summer has shown heavy downpours are something that is happening more and more and as Mr Craik said, there needs to be more organisation put into making sure the next time what happened in Cardenden occurs that there are response teams which can get to the scene and help residents.

How that can be achieved at a time of tight purse strings is a big question but it is definitely needed.

Meantime the residents of Cardenden Road need the support of the village community to help them meet the challenges that lie ahead and there is no doubt that will be there to be tapped into.