Squall leaves fallen trees in its trail

Teo Wan Gek, Straits Times 26 Apr 09;

Mr Toh Eng Huat was about to go to sleep last Wednesday when he received a phone call from the National Parks Board at 11.25pm.

He was told that a storm had wreaked havoc across the island.

Mr Toh, who is employed by a company contracted by NParks to clear fallen trees, headed to his first location of the night in Coronation Road.

'The damage was very severe. A tree had fallen and was blocking the road. I quickly called my men down to the site, and then I moved on to another place,' said the 58-year-old team leader.

It would be 8pm on Thursday before he eventually called it a day. By then, he had inspected more than 50 locations and even used his chainsaw to cut and remove smaller branches.

Last Wednesday, a Sumatra squall, marked by thunderstorms and gusty winds, swept through Singapore between 11pm and just after midnight.

Mean wind speeds of 33kmh to 54kmh were recorded, with the strongest gust at 83kmh detected in the western areas. On average, wind speed ranges from 25kmh to 35kmh.

That night, NParks received calls from the police and public about the damage to trees. It alerted its contractors, which sent out five teams of four to five people each.

Still, motorists on Thursday morning were stuck in at least two massive jams in Queenstown and the Pan-Island Expressway.

NParks director of streetscape Simon Longman said it was notified of the obstruction in these areas only in the morning.

The fallen tree in Queenstown caused a traffic jam that lasted at least two hours.

Of the 170 cases reported from Wednesday's storm, 30 per cent were causing road obstructions. By Thursday morning, all trees except those in a few locations had been cleared, said Mr Longman.

According to Mr Dick Toh, managing director of Toh Eng Hock Construction, one of NParks' contractors, tree clearing is not that simple.

'You have to cut the tree in a certain way or the tree could spring back. We always cut from the tips and work inwards,' he said.

Other risks to cutters working on fallen trees on roads include poor visibility in the rain and drivers who speed at night.

With a new system put in place last year, the response time to alerts about fallen trees has been halved to 30 minutes.

Motorcycles are also now utilised since they can get through a traffic jam to reach the scene more quickly.

If a crane is needed, help from the Traffic Police is sought to clear a path for the driver.

Mr Longman said Wednesday's storm was not the most severe in Singapore's history.

He said Sumatra squalls move in from Indonesia and usually hit the south-west coast of Singapore first.

'That's why the Bukit Timah, Pasir Panjang and Thomson areas all bore the brunt of the storm,' he said.

The National Environment Agency predicts one or two more squalls this week.

Mr Longman said NParks will continue with tree inspections.

More than 100 certified arborists inspect the trees for weaknesses and defects every day.

'This is our first line of defence. From identifying the weakness, we then prune the tree, eliminating the risk of it snapping in a storm,' he said.

Since 2000, the incidence of falling trees has been reduced by 62 per cent.

Mr Longman said one of the trade-offs of living in a garden city is that there will always be some storm damage.

'Even humans blow over in the wind,' he said.

Man killed by falling branch
Victim was working at Pyramid Club when 20m-long branch hit him
Huang Huifen, Straits Times 26 Apr 09;

Landscaper Noordin Osman's plans to take his family to Bali in June will never happen.

The 46-year-old was killed when a 20m-long branch fell on him at about 10am yesterday at the prestigious Pyramid Club in Goodwood Hill.

The contract worker for landscaping firm Crystalene Product(s) was doing upgrading work there.

His co-worker, Mr Fardullah Hulbaid, 26, heard a 15cm thick branch snap and saw it falling. He shouted a warning to Mr Noordin but it was too late.

'He was standing nearest to the tree and could not run in time. After the branch hit him, blood came out from his mouth,' said Mr Fardullah.

The police were alerted and Mr Noordin, who suffered head injuries, was pronounced dead at 10.23am by the paramedics.

Mr Fardullah said it was not windy when the incident occurred and that they were not wearing helmets.

Mr Noordin's wife Besah Abdul Rahaman, 54, said she was getting ready for work when she got a call from the police at around 11.30am.

'I didn't know what to say as I just couldn't believe what had happened,' said the health assistant who works at Changi General Hospital.

The couple were married for 19 years and have two children, aged 15 and 12.

Madam Besah also has two other children from a previous marriage.

'He was a good husband. He was always very cool and did not get angry easily. He was always happy and we never quarrelled,' said Madam Besah.

'He would always be the one reaching out to me, asking me how I was, and helping out with the housework when I was working,' she added.

'Now I feel so lonely without him.'

Mr Noordin's elder sister, Ms Noraini Osman, 51, described him as soft-spoken and a family guy.

'He loved to travel and was planning a trip to Bali with his family in June.'

The administrative assistant finds his death hard to accept: 'This is so sudden. If he had died of sickness, I could still accept it.'

Mr Richard Ng, managing director of Crystalene, described Mr Noordin as his best worker who was willing to do whatever was asked of him.

'He would never argue. He would simply smile and say okay,' said Mr Ng of his employee of six years.

Mr Ng said he would continue to pay Mr Noordin's monthly salary of $1,200 to his family until they were financially stable.

'We have nothing much to give but it is the duty of the company to help his family carry on with their livelihood,' said Mr Ng.

Asked for a possible reason for the incident, he suggested that the tree may have been weakened by the strong winds caused by a Sumatra squall last Wednesday night.

'Many trees fell but it just so happened that this fell after the storm,' said Mr Ng.

The Ministry of Manpower has asked Crystalene to cordon off the area and check the condition of the trees there.

The ministry, together with botanists and the police, is investigating.