Trees come crashing down at Mandai after heavy rain

Straits Times 12 Feb 11;

STRONG winds and heavy rain brought several trees and branches crashing down along Mandai Road yesterday evening, with some of them falling onto cars, causing a kilometre-long jam.

Volunteer worker Susan Chee, 52, was driving by when a tree fell onto a street lamp and sent it crashing onto her Toyota Picnic. She escaped unhurt, but the rear of her car was badly damaged.

Fallen branches also hit taxi driver Seet Miow Him's windscreen, causing it to crack.

'It was such a shock, the branches just rained down,' Mr Seet, 61, said in Mandarin. 'Luckily, I am okay.'

The heavy rain started just past 4pm and lasted about two hours. The fallen trees, which caused a jam on Mandai Road in the direction of the Singapore Zoo, were cleared at about 7.30pm, and smooth traffic flow resumed by 8pm.

The National Environment Agency Meteorological Services Division's three-day weather outlook predicts afternoon showers across various parts of Singapore for the next three days.

Storm fells trees, disrupts traffic
Today Online 12 Feb 11;

A storm on Friday swept down several trees along Mandai Road and Seletar Expressway, forcing traffic to slow to a crawl during evening peak hours. Operations executive Ling Kok Ann, 41, who was driving along Mandai Road at around 5pm, told MediaCorp two of the three lanes were unpassable because of the fallen trees. Other callers to the MediaCorp News Hotline 6822 2268 said the downpour also badly affected visibility, causing speeds on the roads to fall below 20km per hour between 5pm and 7pm. The National Parks Board said some trees fell along the SLE, near the Woodlands Avenue 12 exit, and Mandai Road, just before Mandai Lake Road. The trees were eventually cleared by 7.30pm. Photo by Ernest Chua