Singapore hit by flash floods after heavy rain

Heavy rain from 10pm on Sunday until noon yesterday led to 32 traffic accidents and multiple flooded areas across the island.

Flash floods occurred at a 20m stretch at the junction of Craig Road and Tanjong Pagar Road, and a 30m stretch at Maxwell Road (towards Kadayanallur Street) after South Bridge Road at around 9am, PUB said in a statement yesterday.

A PUB spokesman said: "Drainage improvement works at the junction of Maxwell Road and Tanjong Pagar Road will commence next month and are expected to complete by the third quarter of this year."

At around 9.30am, PUB said on its social media pages that the water level at the Alexandra Canal Sub Drain B, at Prince Philip Avenue near Redhill MRT station, was at 100 per cent.

It also sent out a warning for several high flood-risk areas as water levels rose above 90 per cent at Tanjong Penjuru/Penjuru Road, Tiong Bahru Road/Boon Tiong Road and Jalan Seaview.

Bishan Road and Yio Chu Kang Road were also added to its list of high flood-risk areas at around 11.20am.

The water levels for all of these areas fell below 90 per cent by noon.

The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) had said on Jan 16 that more showers are expected in the second half of the month due to prevailing North-East Monsoon conditions.

When The New Paper visited the Alexandra Canal at noon yesterday, there was a slight drizzle, and the water level of the 1.2km-long canal had subsided to about half its height.

Workers from Toh Guan Enterprise Hub, who declined to be named, told TNP that the water threatened to overflow at 9am but did not.

High water levels at the Kallang River at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park also receded after the rain stopped, said the PUB spokesman.

Madam Cheong Lee Meng, 66, a retiree who lives in a block overlooking the park, said high water levels were common there.

"There is shallow water if there is no rain. There was heavy rain today, but I was not alarmed because the water didn't reach the bridge or pathway. The water receded fast after the rain stopped," she said.

Social media was flooded with photos and videos of the flash floods.

Places included Maxwell Road, Tanjong Pagar, Commonwealth, Supreme Court Lane and Upper Cross Street near the State Courts.

Facebook user Jama Mohamed posted a video of a flash flood in a drain near the Commonwealth Crescent carpark.

Twitter user Shaiful Rizal, 30, was on his way to work at Lim Teck Kim Road in the Tanjong Pagar area at 9.20am when he lost his slippers in ankle-deep water.

He told TNP: "I lost my slippers while I was crossing the road at the traffic lights. My feet were fully submerged. Luckily I found some spare shoes in the office."

Lianhe Wanbao also reported that the water was gushing out from drains at the bus stop outside Haw Par Villa MRT station.

SPARED

Upper Thomson Road, which was hit by flash floods last Thursday and on Christmas Eve, was spared during yesterday's rain.

Mr Syed Ridzwan, 40, a waiter at The Roti Prata House, near Jalan Keli, told TNP that he was thankful that it did not flood.

He said: "I was worried at first, but everything was under control. I am still worried about business being affected because customers are scared that it will flood here."

Shop owners in Chinatown said the rain had dampened sales in the run-up to Chinese New Year on Saturday.

An MSS spokesman said the heaviest rainfall as of 5pm yesterday was recorded mostly over the south-eastern and south-western parts of the island - around Kallang (99.6mm), Buona Vista (96.6mm), Queenstown (92.4mm) and Marina Barrage (91.0mm).