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Police, Brodick Castle personnel and council staff worked all night during the violent storm on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 8-9, to clear the island’s roads of fallen trees and wind-blown debris.
Sergeant Bob MacKay said the main road at Brodick Castle was narrowed to one lane for five hours as National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and North Ayrshire Council (NAC) workers battled to clear away fallen trees. At times they had to contend with waves crashing on to the road where they worked due to the high tide.
Many trees throughout the island were completely uprooted and others were simply snapped in half by the ferocity of winds gusting at up to 105mph.
As well as the road by the castle, the NTS and NAC workers were called to the Ross Road which was also closed for a time at Glenree as trees were brought down by the winds.
The road at High Kildonan was closed for 90 minutes for a tree to be cleared. It was removed by a local farmer.
Although Brodick Castle garden suffered badly, with the loss of 30 trees (see pages 10-11), the whole island was affected, with reports of slates coming of roofs and greenhouses being smashed in the high winds.
Among the casualties was the Kinloch Hotel at Blackwaterfoot where the swimming pool lost part of its roof.
Manager Robert Wain said they were awaiting assessors before deciding the next move. ‘It will need fairly major repairs but we don’t know the extent yet,’ he said.
