AsiaOne 25 Jun 10;
Singapore residents woke up to another downpour early this morning.
Skies were dark and in the eastern part of Singapore, the downpour started after 7am.
Photographer Alvin Teo, 20, an intern with AsiaOne, said of the scene he saw while walking from Braddell MRT station to the junction leading to his workplace: "The junction was flooded. People looked like they were swimming!"
A check half an hour later by AsiaOne revealed that the waters at the junction has since subsided.
Mr Teo also saw two women chasing after their slippers, which was swept away by the waters.
Reports coming in indicate heavy flooding in parts of Singapore.
Floods were seen in several areas, including parts of Upper Thomson Road and Jalan Boon Lay.
Branches, snapped off by strong gusts of wind, also caused traffic chaos.
Fallen branches disrupted traffic flow near Orchard Central, as two lanes were blocked.
The Meteorological Services Division has issued a rain-with-thunder warning. It said to also expect showers with thunder late morning and early afternoon for the next three days.
Last Wednesday, parts of Orchard Road and Bukit Timah were flooded, leading to damage to luxury shops and vehicles. In Orchard, Hermes and the three-day-old fast-food outlet Wendy's were among those whose premises and goods were reported damaged by the flood.
AsiaOne readers also said that parts of Bukit Timah were uncrossable for a period of time, except for buses and bigger vehicles.
Flash floods in many areas
Hoe Pei Shan and Lee Jia Xin Straits Times 25 Jun 10;
THE heavy downpour on Friday morning has sparked fears of a repeat of last Wednesday's massive flooding in the Orchard Road area.
Torrential rain caused traffic snarls on all the major expressways in Singapore during the morning rush hour.
The darkened morning sky, along with the high amount of rainfall, cut visibility on the roads making driving conditions tricky.
Information from the one.motoring portal reported heavy traffic on the AYE, KPE, SLE, BKE and CTE.
Traffic on the CTE towards SLE after Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 almost came to a standstill due to an obstacle blocking three lanes.
A tree fell outside Orchard Central, near the Somerset MRT station on Orchard Road, blocking three of the five lanes. But no floods were reported in the shopping belt.
Readers called in to report floods at Upper Thomson Road near the junction of Sin Ming Road, Bishan area, and Jalan Boon Lay in the direction of Corporation Road.
The weather forecast from the National Environment Agency's Meteorological service says showers with thunder are expected over all parts of Singapore from 8am to 11am.
The heavy downpour recalled last Wednesday's massive floods in many areas of central Singapore, flooding basement carparks and shops, and causing businesses to lose millions of dollars.
On Thursday, the PUB announced that it is spending $25,000 to install five debris-trap gratings at Stamford Canal to prevent future floods. All five will be in place by Friday.
Heavy downpour causes flooding, road chaos
Channel NewsAsia 25 Jun 10;
SINGAPORE: The heavy downpour Friday morning is causing chaos on the roads.
MediaCorp received several calls about floods in various parts of Singapore.
Among them are Upper Thomson Road near Sin Ming Road, Jalan Boon Lay, and Bukit Timah Road after the Balmoral Road junction in the direction of Corporation Road.
The Meteorological Services Division had issued a heavy rain warning, saying flash floods could occur.
Floods in some of these areas have since subsided.
The downpour accompanied by gusty winds also caused branches to break off trees.
One such incident near Orchard Central along Orchard Road blocked two lanes of traffic.
SCDF personnel are helping evacuate children from a childcare centre at Telok Kurau Lorong G, affected by the floods.
They're also pumping water out of the childcare centre.
The traffic police are diverting traffic away from the CTE towards SLE in between the Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 exit due to a fallen tree.
The huge tree fell across the entire northbound carriageway after the junction with Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 in Friday’s morning's heavy downpour, causing a massive jam which stretched several kilometres.
Traffic is also being diverted away from the junction of Balmoral Road and Bukit Timah Road, due to flood caused by heavy rains.
In a statement, Traffic police said officers at the affected roads are regulating traffic and directing motorists.
Motorists are informed to follow the directions of traffic police officers.
Members of the public are advised to avoid the affected areas.
They say the public may call the police hotline at 1800 65471818 for further enquiries concerning the matter.
- CNA/jy
Over 60% of June rain fell during morning downpour, causing road chaos
Channel NewsAsia 25 Jun 10;
SINGAPORE: Heavy and intense rain fell in many parts of Singapore early Friday morning causing road chaos with fallen trees and floods.
The PUB said 100 mm of rain fell within an hour, between 8 and 9.30am.
That's the same amount of rainfall on June 16 which led to massive floods in Orchard Road. That amount is more than 60 per cent of the average rainfall for the entire month of June.
PUB says the heavy rain caused localised flash floods in a number areas and the waters subsided within 30 minutes.
During the heavy downpour Friday morning MediaCorp received several calls about floods in various parts of Singapore.
Among the areas affected were Upper Thomson Road near Sin Ming Road, Jalan Boon Lay, and Bukit Timah Road after the Balmoral Road junction in the direction of Corporation Road.
Several roads also had traffic diverted due to fallen trees.
An uprooted tree fell across the entire northbound carriageway after the junction with Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 in Friday’s morning's heavy downpour making the expressway impassable to traffic.
The incident caused a massive jam which tailed back several kilometres.
A van was also trapped by the fallen tree and the SCDF said two people in the van were injured and were sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Traffic Police were also on hand to divert traffic away from the CTE towards SLE in between the Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 exit due to the fallen tree.
On Orchard Road, a fallen tree near Orchard Central blocked two lanes of traffic.
SCDF personnel were also called in to help evacuate children from a childcare centre at Telok Kurau Lorong G, affected by the floods.
They also had to pump water out of the childcare centre.
Traffic police officers were also kept busy regulating traffic and directing motorists at jammed up roads.
At the junction of Balmoral Road and Bukit Timah Road, traffic had to be diverted away from due to flood caused by heavy rains.
- CNA/jy/sf
Orchard Road flooded again
Today Online 25 Jun 10;
Nine days after a blocked canal running under Orchard Road overflowed and caused millions of dollars in damage to shops, floods were again reported along Singapore's main shopping stretch this morning.
Mr Goh, a caller to the MediaCorp hotline (68 2222 68), said that flood waters at the junction of Orchard, Scotts and Patterson Roads - badly affected last week - were up to knee level at 8.50am this morning.
Another hotline caller, Ms Brenda Khaw, told MediaCorp that a fallen tree branch had caused a minor traffic jam outside Centrepoint. Other callers told MediaCorp that Bukit Timah Road was gridlocked due to the heavy rain.
Heavy and Intense Rainfall Causes Flash Floods - 25 June 2010
PUB Press Release 25 Jun 10;
Heavy and intense rain fell over many parts of Singapore in the early morning.
About 100 mm of rain fell within one hour between 8 am to 9.30 am. The amount of rainfall is approximately more than 60% of the average monthly rainfall for June.
The heavy rain caused localised flash floods in a number of areas including Bukit Timah Road/ Dunearn Road, Thomson Road and Balestier Road junction, and Old Airport Road. The flash floods subsided within 30 minutes.
PUB, Traffic Police and SCDF officers were activated to render assistance on site.
PUB advises the public to exercise caution as flash floods may still occur in the event of heavy storms.
The public can obtain the latest weather reports, including heavy rain warnings, by tuning in to radio broadcasts, calling NEA’s weather forecast hotline at 6542 7788, visiting the NEA website at www.nea.gov.sg or accessing the mobile weather service (Weather@SG - weather.nea.gov.sg). The public can also call PUB’s 24-hour Call Centre at 1800-284 6600 to report obstructions in drains or to check the flood situation.
