Householders in Dalbeattie are counting the cost after homes were flooded following torrential rain.
Properties in Port Street, the Galla and John Street were swamped after burns and drains overflowed.
The nearby River Urr also burst its banks and flooded large areas of farmland.
Alison Elkins’ John Street home beside the Kirkgunzeon Burn was inundated by water a foot deep from the street
She said yesterday: “My house was built in 1980 and has never been flooded before.
“The river has never been a problem due to the flood prevention wall doing a great job.
“But on Friday the water ran in like a river off the road and trashed everything on the ground floor.
“John Street drainage has long been a problem and it appears they are reluctant to make improvements.
“This has created a nightmare for me in my beautifully restored home.
“I went and got sandbags yesterday and hopefully that may prevent further problems. I don’t need this at my age.”
Mrs Elkins contacted Dalbeattie Community Council chairman Robert McGoldrick.
He said: “The fire brigade had to come out and pump out the water.
“The community council has been reporting the need for drains maintenance consistently.
“The drains on John Street have not been cleaned out. This issue has been raised by the community council over a number of years.
“We were always assured the work had been done – but I have personally opened some up myself and cleaned them out. It was exceptional rain – but it was forecast.”
A Scottish Water spokesperson admitted that the “combined sewer network is not designed to cope with the amount of rainfall experienced across the area on Friday”.
He said: “We have surveyed parts of the local sewer network and encourage customers to contact us where they have concerns or are experiencing sewer flooding.
“The local authority is responsible for road gully and drainage maintenance.
“We will engage directly with the community council on their concerns.”
Meanwhile, water gauges on the Urr came within inches of their highest ever level.
The river reached 4.31 metres on Friday – a fraction below the record set in December 2015.
Castle Douglas and District Angling Association feared losses of salmon eggs and recently hatched fry.
Chairman Kenny Irving said: “There’s a worry that salmon redds will have been damaged or washed away,
“The Urr was always a back end river with the main salmon run in October and November – now it’s September-October.
“It’s almost as if the fish are aware of impending flooding.
“So they run early and get their progeny implanted early to avoid the floods.
“Salmon are very resilient – but these floods are very damaging.”
At Gatehouse, a swollen River Fleet jammed an entire tree against the footbridge to Riverbank.
And in the Glenkens, the River Ken overtopped the levee at Ken Bridge and surged over the New Galloway road,
Eyewitness, Balmaclellan meteorologist Roland Chaplain, said: “Three inches of rain fell in 12 hours.
“The river was rising a centimetre every two minutes.
“It got over the levee and funnelled over the road.
“A van driver got through but told me the water was pulling him over.
“One car was already stuck and there was traffic on both
sides.
“It was above my knees and flowing rapidly and getting dangerous.
“There was a ‘road ahead closed’ sign in the hedge, so we pulled it out and put it up.”
