News / Watch: roads blocked and burn breaks amid heavy rainfall
Tractor required to clear Quarff slip
A QUARFF woman who helped clear the road after a landslip on Tuesday night has said it was lucky nobody was driving through at the time.
The road to Wester Quarff was blocked off at around 6pm as heavy rain and high winds caused mud and water to slide down the hill.
At the same time, the A968 Dales Lees road between Voe and Firth had to be shut after a similar landslide. It only reopened late on Wednesday afternoon.
Another slip at Kergord earlier in the day was followed by flooding, which followed material falling onto the road in Weisdale.
Heather Davidson said it was the fourth time she could remember a landslide at the same area of Quarff in the last 40 years.
Her husband Tim helped to clear the road for through traffic with his tractor late on Tuesday night, with Heather helping to shovel the worst of the mess aside.
She said the timing of the slip was fortunate – with no commuters heading home on the road at the time.
“Luckily most people come home at the back of five, and it just happened at the time there was nobody there,” Davidson said.
“Our neighbours messaged me and asked me if my husband would come out with the tractor.
“It was still running down the hill a bit, and there was a lot of fences down. We just cleared the road so any cars could get through.”
Davidson said it was “a known place” for slips.
She and her husband “came down a few times” through the night to ensure the road was still clear, before council roads staff arrived on the scene on Wednesday morning.
Other parts of Shetland also experienced high rainfall – this photo below shows how the Hoswick Burn washed its way into the sea, breaking through shingle and sand which used to separate the two bodies of water.
Meanwhile the Met Office said more than 60mm of rain was recorded in both Lerwick and Fair Isle on Tuesday.
It was the wettest September day on record in Fair Isle, and the third rainiest September day in Lerwick.
It was also the wettest September day in Lerwick since 1967.
Figures from the Met Office suggested it was not as wet further north, with the Baltasound weather station recording nearly 30mm of rain.
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