Eye Water - 1948 Flood

1948 Flood

On August 12, 1948 the Berwickshire region was hit by a calamitous flood when one third of the annual rainfall fell in just six days. The water flowed off the Lammermuir Hills causing the Eye Water and other rivers of the area to overflow and cause much damage. The low lying farm land around Ayton was turned into a large lake with the 18 metres (60 ft) high embankment of the ECML railway acting as a dam. There were fears that the embankment would break and Eyemouth would be inundated. The embankment did hold but Eyemouth still received some damage, with reports saying that gales and the impact of the overflowing Eye Water had the “impact of a hurricane”. The flood caused the closure of the local Eyemouth Railway from 13 August 1848 to 29 June of the next year.

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