00:07 I wanted to ask you what your thoughts were upon hearing the stories of the residents here,
00:12 but also on the indomitable Scottish spirit of communities coming together in times like these.
00:18 Well, I'm here because I wanted to be very clear to the residents who I've met,
00:23 who I've been into their homes, to the businesses that I've met,
00:26 that the government is standing alongside our partners in Angus Council to do everything we can to support them,
00:32 given the devastation and the scale of the devastation we've seen from the storm.
00:37 So we will do everything we can to support them,
00:40 but I have been heart warmed, my heart has warmed in the last few days,
00:43 when we've seen the scale of the community response.
00:46 Not just the emergency services, but those volunteers that have also come together
00:50 to answer the call for those who've been left with virtually nothing, given the scale of the impact of the storm here.
00:57 But look, we don't want people to have to rely on volunteers.
01:00 The government's prepared to work with Angus Council to step in to help as much as possible.
01:06 And, you know, just as you mentioned there, what are the Scottish Government doing to support those that have been flooded in places like here in Preakham?
01:12 First and foremost, this is going to be a long road to recovery,
01:16 given the scale of the devastation that I've seen and we've witnessed over the last few days.
01:21 So some of that inevitably will be around funding.
01:24 So I've said to Angus Council that we of course will continue to engage with them around funding.
01:28 We opened the Bellwood scheme. It's a discretionary scheme to help local authorities when they have major incidents like this.
01:34 We've also committed to provide £150 million over the course of the parliamentary term
01:39 through partners in relation to flooding.
01:43 And also that's on top of £42 million that we provide annually to local authorities to help with flooding schemes.
01:49 So, look, we'll provide as much resource as we possibly can and we're here for the long haul.
01:54 You've talked about how unprecedented this amount of rainfall was.
01:58 You've talked about climate change being a factor.
02:02 Given that is a factor, is it inevitable we're going to see more weekends in the coming months and the coming years?
02:09 So this is unprecedented. We've had about 200mm of rain falling in North Angland this summer,
02:15 but in the last few days, to put that into context, that's in excess of the monthly rainfall
02:20 you'd see in some parts of North Angland. It's falling literally in the space of a few days.
02:24 But I think adverse weather events are likely to continue,
02:28 given that we are in the midst of a climate crisis right now.
02:31 It's not something in the distant future. They're dealing with it right now.
02:35 And therefore, that's why we put money up and are prepared to put money up to help with future flooding prevention schemes.
02:42 But I'm afraid to say that the whole world, Scotland included, will undoubtedly see more and more adverse,
02:48 significant adverse weather events like we saw in the last few days given the climate crisis we're in.
02:52 Just in terms of the flood prevention scheme here, £60 million spent on it less than a decade ago.
02:59 It's obviously been breached by this significant rainfall.
03:03 Some of the residents I've spoken to say they're angry that it didn't work,
03:06 that they felt they would be protected given reassurances in the past.
03:10 What would you say to them, especially going forward, that they can rely on the Scottish Government to help?
03:16 I hope people will understand the articulated nature, the scale of what we saw.
03:20 I spoke to a number of residents. They live here, right by the River South Esk.
03:25 They told me they felt the flooding before and they had to come up to their ankles, at most just below the knee.
03:30 The flood that we saw, one resident just across the road from me,
03:34 they're flooding the waters up past our shoulders.
03:37 So this is unprecedented in terms of the scale.
03:40 But we will do what we can to help to invest in flood prevention schemes, flood defences.
03:48 Has the scale of the devastation shocked you?
03:51 It has. We knew it would be a very difficult weather event.
03:55 We were working with our colleagues in the Met Office and Sea Plan Advance of course on the storm landing.
04:01 But seeing it with my own eyes, the scale of the devastation,
04:04 seeing the scale of the height of the wet water,
04:08 you can see the watermarks on people's houses, on the walls in the houses here, truly is unprecedented.
04:14 And is it almost humbling seeing the state of people's homes and what's happened to people?
04:18 It is. It's devastating actually.
04:20 I've hugged many a resident over the last hour who are completely devastated by what's happened in their own house,
04:28 what's happened in their own communities.
04:30 I have to say it's also humbling though to see the scale of the community response.
04:34 The community have really pulled in together, volunteers, people giving up their time, their money, their clothing,
04:40 to help other people in need.
04:42 And I'm sure we'll see much more of that because there is a long road to recovery.
04:47 We've seen some residents saying that they want to see the Red River dredge. Is that something you would support?
04:54 Again, we'll leave it to the experts to do the appropriate assessments of what needs done.
05:00 I promise Angus Council is all the team to work with from hand to glove as best as we possibly can to support them.
05:07 First Minister, Angus Council just frozen their council tax again.
05:11 Given the scale of funding that Angus Council alone is going to have to find, is that something that could be looked at?
05:16 I think council tax freeze is the right thing to do given that we know people right across communities,
05:21 including those people who are on above average salaries, are really facing the pinch,
05:28 and feeling the pinch in terms of their cost of living crisis.
05:30 So I think it's the right thing to do, but remember that will be a fully funded council tax freeze
05:34 in terms of the devastation of the flooding.
05:37 It's clear that additional funding for Angus Council is going to be required,
05:40 and I've given Angus Council the insurance that will provide them with additional funding.
05:44 The scale of that alone will become apparent once we know what extra tax freeze requires in the long haul.
05:51 There's obviously briefings at the forefront, but down in Dundee it's been just as bad.
05:55 People down in Dundee feel they're being ignored and forgotten.
05:58 I hope that they don't feel that's the case.
06:01 Myself, living in Dundee, my identity as First Minister, I find it's interesting
06:06 that one of those is impacted by the flooding in Dundee and that bursting its banks.
06:11 So we know that people right across Scotland, the hardest hit, people right across Scotland,
06:16 will be impacted and affected by the flooding.
06:19 That's why the Bill Winston Union is open, that's why we'll put £42 million into flood defences
06:25 every year to all of our local authorities.
06:28 That's why we've also committed £150 million on Topper Bank over the course of the Parliament
06:32 to help with flood defences too.
06:34 Given the amount of money, the estimates for the damage that's here,
06:40 would you be a point to the UK Government to help on that?
06:43 We haven't got to that stage yet.
06:46 I think it's important that the assessments are done in terms of the scale of the devastation
06:50 and what the impacts are going to be and what is required.
06:53 Of course, I've been to Senegal and had those conversations with the UK Government.
06:56 I'm very keen to give assurance to residents here that have spoken to the businesses here,
07:01 that have spoken to the Government, that they are just supporting as much as we possibly can
07:05 during our long road to recovery.
07:08 If something could be done here because of the scale of it,
07:11 how do you stop it happening again and how do you reassure people that
07:15 there can be something to stop it happening again?
07:17 That's a very fair question indeed.
07:19 That's why we'll work with the Council and the experts here to say what more can be done
07:23 to possibly stop that scale of flooding that we saw, that scale of devastation that we saw.
07:30 But you make a very good point indeed.
07:32 We're in the midst of a climate crisis right now, it's not something that's happening in the distant future.
