Troubled waters over Liat Towers

Building's management and PUB disagree as to why the basement was inundated
Grace Chua Straits Times 28 Dec 11;

THE management of Liat Towers and national water agency PUB do not see eye to eye on how last Friday's heavy rain turned the building's basement into a pond.

A spokesman for the management of the shopping and office block, speaking to The Straits Times following a meeting with PUB, pinned the blame on an over-full Stamford Canal.

PUB, on the other hand, is adamant that the build-up of water came from the heavy rain and the building not pumping out the water fast enough.

That afternoon, 152.8mm of rain came down on Orchard Road in three hours. Flash floods were reported in Little India, Bukit Timah and Thomson.

In the Orchard area, Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza - among the worst-hit by the floods in June last year - were hit again. In Liat Towers, water entered fast-food outlet Wendy's, Starbucks cafe and clothing retailer Massimo Dutti, all in the basement.

PUB said in a statement yesterday: 'The situation at Liat Towers was caused largely by the prolonged heavy rain, which fell directly into the building's open basement area.'

It noted that the basement's outdoor area was designed as a sunken plaza, for which the primary means of drainage is pumping. It added: 'The huge volume of rain water that fell continuously for three hours could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.'

But the Liat Towers spokesman said the building's 3.3kw pumps had been working at full bore - flushing out some 15 bathtubs of water a minute - to push water into Stamford Canal.

It was just that the water had nowhere to go, the spokesman said, because the part of Stamford Canal that runs under the pedestrian walkway was full.

The SMS alert sent out by PUB said as much. (See other report.)

Stamford Canal has two parallel branches under Orchard Road - one on the Forum Galleria side, and the other in front of Orchard Towers.

The Liat Towers spokesman added that the building also used two other pairs of smaller pumps, one pair pushing water onto the walkway facing Angullia Park, and the other directing water onto the pedestrian mall.

Assistant Professor Vivien Chua of the National University of Singapore's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering said that if water is pumped into something that is already full, overflow would result.

She said: 'The water may not backflow if there is an additional outlet. By continuously pumping water out at a higher rate than the rate at which water enters the area, the water can be diverted to a drainage outlet which leads directly to the sea.'

PUB said, however, that with the right hydraulic pumps, 'you can still pump water into the canal'. It did not specify the recommended pump capacity.

Liat Towers, which disclosed that it had upgraded just last month at a cost of $8,000, raised another point - and this was that the shopping mall and office building, built more than 30 years ago, had never faced such severe flooding before last year.

PUB, sticking to its guns yesterday that the branch of Stamford Canal on the Liat Towers side had not overflowed, said in an e-mail: 'When the canal at Forum (The Shopping Mall) reaches 100 per cent, the excess water will flow to the canal at Orchard Towers.'

She added that on that day, while the water level in the canal on the Forum side reached 100 per cent, the water level in the canal at Orchard Towers was below 100 per cent throughout the downpour.

'The rain on Dec 23 did not cause the canal to overflow,' she wrote, adding that any overflow from the canal would have come out of the drop inlet chambers, which are openings on the edge of the road, onto Orchard Road.

After yesterday's meeting, Liat Towers said the PUB recommended raising the curb next to the Liat Towers drain by 600mm, creating a barrier between the scupper drain next to Wheelock Place and the enclosed basement plaza.

PUB officers are working with the management of Liat Towers to review the building's internal drainage system.

A PUB spokesman said that last year, when the agency gave Liat Towers technical advice on floodgates, it had already urged the building's management to look into its internal drainage system.

After last year's floods on Orchard Road, the PUB raised a 1.4km stretch from Tanglin Road to Cairnhill Road by an average of 30cm.

PUB said it is looking into building a detention pond and a diversion canal for the Stamford catchment. Its study began in August and is expected to take until May.

LIAT TOWERS SAYS

'The pumps were working at full blast but were not able to drain the water out into the canal because the canal was full.

PUB has got to take care of the canal.

If the canal causes backflow and flooding, no matter how many pumps you put in, there will still be a problem. The long-term solution is that the Government has to do something tothe canal.'

A SPOKESMAN FOR LIAT TOWERS MANAGEMENT

PUB SAYS

'The situation at Liat Towers was caused largely by the prolonged heavy rain which fell directly into the building's open basement area.

The outdoor area of Liat Towers is designed as a sunken plaza. The primary means to drain water away from the sunken plaza is through pumping.

On Dec 23, Liat Towers had pumped the water collected in its sunken plaza onto the pedestrian walkway, not into the canal. The huge volume of rain water that fell continuously for three hours could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.'

A PUB SPOKESMAN

Who pays for flood damage?
Straits Times 28 Dec 11;

LAST YEAR, floods along the Orchard Road shopping belt caused damage estimated to run into millions of dollars.

Last Friday, floods swept once again into the basements of Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza.

Burger chain Wendy's said it was still totting up the damage from the latest deluge at its Liat Towers outlet.

The floods in June last year caused it $500,000 in damage.

Asked if it would move out at the end of its lease, the fast-food chain's marketing and branding manager Seng Woonfa said: 'We will assess the situation.'

Insurance litigation specialist Edric Pan, a partner in law firm Rodyk & Davidson, said much depends on the extent of the shops' insurance coverage.

'If their own insurance covers flood damage, they can look to their insurers to cover their losses,' he said.

But the owners of a building cannot be held liable if the flood is caused by a public canal overflowing, as there would have been nothing the owners could reasonably have done to prevent that.

The tenants in a building will, however, be able to file claims against the building management if it can be shown that it had contributed to the flood, such as by failing to clear a blocked gutter.

The damage from last year's floods was covered by Liat Towers' insurance as well as insurance policies taken out by the individual tenants.

Following that deluge, which has since been attributed to the Stamford Canal overflowing, the building management spent $500,000 on pop-up floodgates. It also put $11,000 into small flood barriers in front of Wendy's, coffee outlet Starbucks and clothing retailer Massimo Dutti, and waived three days of rent for affected tenants.

This time round, the management has pitched in with a post-flood cleanup; it is still in talks with its tenants on how else it can help them, said a spokesman for Liat Towers' owner Goldvein.

Said Mr Seng of Wendy's: 'We have to solve the issue, rather than pointing fingers. That is the most pragmatic way.'

GRACE CHUA

Ebb and flow: What happened
Straits Times 28 Dec 11;

NATIONAL water agency PUB sends out SMS alerts on water levels in various canals or drains to its network of subscribers, which include building managers.

Subscribers may select the canals or drains which they wish to monitor. The alerts tell them when the water level in these canals rises above 50 per cent, 75 per cent, 90 per cent and 100 per cent, and when it falls below those levels.

The following is a timeline based on those alerts and eyewitness accounts during the heavy downpour on Dec 23.

4.52 PM The water level at Stamford Canal, measured from the sensor nearest Liat Towers, is above 50 per cent. PUB's SMS alert sent out at this time reads: 'Stamford Canal (Forum): Water level rise above 50%. Low Flood Risk.' Liat Towers' building management activates its flood gates, which pop up.

5.01 PM The water level rises above 75 per cent to 'moderate flood risk', according to the PUB alert. Eyewitnesses say it is raining heavily, and that the water level in Liat Towers' basement plaza is rising.

5.04 PM The water level in the canal exceeds 90 per cent. The SMS alert at this point describes this as 'high flood risk'.

5.07 PM The water level rises 'above 100 per cent', says the alert. It has gone from 90 per cent to more than 100 per cent in the space of three minutes.

5.25 PM Liat Towers' time-stamped photographs show knee-deep water along the pedestrian mall outside its floodgates. The top of the stairs leading to Liat Towers' basement is above water, but its basement is in knee-deep water.

5.26 PM Liat Towers' building management sets up a hose to pump water out of the basement.

5.36 PM The water level in the canal falls to below 100 per cent, says the PUB alert.

5.39 PM It falls to below 90 per cent.

5.43 PM It falls further to below 75 per cent.

5:59 PM It falls to below 50 per cent.

Lucky Plaza to build flood barriers
Joanne Chan Channel NewsAsia 27 Dec 11;

SINGAPORE: Lucky Plaza - which was hit by flooding again last Friday - is in the process of installing flood barriers.

Its management told Channel NewsAsia it is in discussion with national water agency PUB and the relevant authorities.

It is unable to reveal further details.

Channel NewsAsia understands the project has been in the works since last year, when Singapore experienced one of its worst flooding in history.

But difficulties with building approval, caused delays.

Rain water gushed into Lucky Plaza's basement during last Friday's floods.

Shopkeepers scrambled to save their goods, and spent hours cleaning up the mess.

They also received a nasty surprise - a manhole was opened to allow the water to drain away, but sewage came bubbling up instead.

One person said: "The sewage started to overflow. It was stinking, it was real stinky, real stinky.The sight was really bad. It's just like the sewage from the toilet."

Another said: "The drainage got stuck, some stuff like that, that's why the water overflowing."

This is the third time in less than two years that Lucky Plaza's basement has been hit by flooding.

The building's management said it is exploring the idea of flood barriers to prevent surface runoff from entering the basement.

But before that is built, tenants said they hope to receive early warnings, so that they too, can take the necessary precautions.

Channel NewsAsia understands an earlier proposal to build flood barriers at a nearby bus stop was turned down.

It is believed approval was eventually granted for barriers to be built along the walkway, just outside the building.

A handover in project management caused further delays.

It is understood the project is now managed by Bruce James Building Surveyors, who took over from Ong and Ong Architects in March this year.

A tender has also yet to be called.

It is understood the barriers, which could stretch up to 100 metres to protect the facade of the building, could cost more than S$300,000 to install.

A permanent structure is also unlikely along the busy walkway, with a pop-up barrier the likely choice.

In the meantime, shopkeepers said they are using makeshift items, such as newspapers and plywood, to prevent water from entering their shops.

Liat Towers too, was not spared.

Although its flood gates were activated, its basement was still flooded.

Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, a spokesperson for the building's management said it has spent more than S$250,000 installing pumps and flood barriers, and improving the drainage system.

She added the problem appears to be "something more fundamental", and claimed to have seen parts of Stamford Canal overflowing on Friday, which may have backed up the drainage at Liat Towers.

PUB, however, said Stamford Canal did not overflow.

It added the huge volume of rainwater could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.

PUB said it is studying the idea of building a detention pond and diversion canal for the Stamford catchment.

The study started in August this year, and will be done by May next year.

Until that happens, Orchard Road retailers are keeping their fingers crossed that a heavy rain doesn't hit them again.

- CNA/wk

Liat Towers to build anti-flood curb
Joanne Chan Channel NewsAsia 29 Dec 11;

SINGAPORE: Liat Towers is planning to build a 60-centimetre-high curb over a drain that runs along the side of the building as a last resort to keep water out of its basement.

Despite the various measures put in place over the past year, the building was hit by flood again last Friday.

This time, the cause has been traced to a drain that overflowed.

Stretching to the back of the building, the drain mostly collects rainwater from Liat Towers' open air car park on the seventh floor.

Water is then discharged into Stamford Canal.

Liat Towers said the drain overflowed as Stamford Canal was at full capacity and could not take anymore rainwater, resulting in a "bottleneck".

However, national water agency PUB insists Stamford Canal did not overflow, and that the gushing water could have exceeded the building's pumping capacity.

Liat Towers' building supervisor Chik Hai Lam said the building has never suffered such severe flooding problems till last year.

Channel NewsAsia understands PUB and Liat Towers have met several times since Friday's incident.

Its latest meeting was on Thursday morning, when Liat Towers agreed to build a 60cm curb on top of its drain.

The aim is to prevent water from overflowing into the basement in the event of another heavy downpour.

The curb will be made of bricks and cement and is expected to cost S$20,000 to S$25,000.

- CNA/wk