Landslide in Glen Valtos, 1920

From the Stornoway Gazette, Local and District News, Friday December 3rd, 1920.

Landslide in Valtos Glen

On Thursday morning of last week, there was a repetition here of the previous Monday’s storm. Though it did not last so long, there were gusts during the early morning which were almost as strong as any we had on Monday. Before daybreak, however, the force of the wind had lessened considerably, and during the day it died down to a dead calm. Heavy rain was falling all the time. At night the wind rose again, and the rain got heavier, and before midnight there was such a downpour that no-one remembers anything like it.

Houses were flooded before anything could be done to avert the onrush of the torrent that swept by. The manse kitchen and outhouses at Baile na Cille were flooded to a depth of nearly a foot. From the kitchen the water spread to all the lower rooms, and considerable damage would have resulted if the house had been fully occupied and furnished. Several other houses in the neighbourhood and in Valtos particularly were in a very sorry plight. Potato pits were covered with water in some places where it was seldom or never seen to settle.

Some parts of the main road are practically denuded of gravel, and in the Valtos Glen a landslide took place which carried down hundreds of tons of earth, completely and effectively blocking the road to all vehicular traffic. Several men have been engaged since then in clearing away the debris, and although a passage has now been cut through, it will take some time yet before the whole mass is removed. Huge boulders of stone weighing several tons each were carried down in the slide. No serious losses took place.