Flash floods seen across several areas in Singapore

Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon saw flash floods at Lorong Buangkok, Hougang Avenue 8 and Ang Mo Kio.
Channel NewsAsia 5 Dec 15;

SINGAPORE: Several areas across the Republic saw flash floods on Saturday afternoon (Dec 5) following heavy thunderstorms.

At about 4pm, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Twitter to expect thunderstorms over northern, eastern and central Singapore between 4.05pm and 5pm. At around 4.40pm, the PUB issued an alert to flash floods at Lorong Buangkok.

PUB also warned of the high water levels in areas such as Tampines Road, Cactus Road and Chin Bee Avenue.

According to Facebook user Lyrrel Tan, the junction of Hougang Avenue 6 and Hougang Avenue 8 was flooded to about ankle high. He said he saw several cars stranded and buses were also delayed due to rain. He added that some buses had to skip certain bus stops because of the amount of the flood at the stop. Commuters were seen standing on seats at the bus stop to avoid the rain water.

Tan added that the bus he was on also had water seeping through the door.

Over at Ang Mo Kio, MediaCorp viewer Gary said the carpark at Block 613A, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 was flooded.


Heavy rain causes floods in several areas in Singapore
AsiaOne 5 Dec 15;

Cars stranded by flooding along Yio Chu Kang Road outside the Church of St Vincent de Paul.

Photo: The Straits Times

Heavy rain on Saturday, Dec 5, has caused floods in several areas around Singapore.

Both the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB) sent out warnings about thundery showers and floods on their Twitter accounts.

Since about 2pm on Saturday, PUB had warned about the high risks of floods occurring in many places including Tampines Road, Cactus Road, Seletar Road and central areas such as Exeter Road and Somerset Road.

The Straits Times reported that two cars were stranded outside Church of St Vincent de Paul along Yio Chu Kang Road.

Flash floods had occurred at about 4pm at Lorong Buangkok. PUB said traffic condition in the area was "impassable". The floods subsided an hour later.

Social media users also took to Twitter to post photos of the floods around the island with the hashtag #sgfloods.


Heavy showers, floods hit parts of Singapore
Adrian Lim, The Straits Times AsiaOne 7 Dec 15;

Cars stranded in floodwaters along Yio Chu Kang Road, just outside the Church of St Vincent de Paul. Yesterday's downpours pushed water levels in drains and canals close to the brink, with flooding reported in areas such as Ang Mo Kio, Buangkok, Hougang and Yio Chu Kang.

Heavy, thundery showers pounded the northern, eastern and central parts of Singapore yesterday afternoon.

Accompanied by gusty winds, the downpours pushed water levels in drains and canals close to the brink, with flooding reported in towns, including Ang Mo Kio, Buangkok, Hougang and Yio Chu Kang.

Between 4pm and 5pm, the PUB issued alerts of high flood risk in six areas: Seletar Road/Neram Road; Cactus Road; Tampines Road/Jalan Teliti; Exeter Road/Somerset Road; Chin Bee Avenue/Third Chin Bee Road; and Lorong Buangkok.

At around 4.30pm, the agency also tweeted that traffic was "impassable" in Lorong Buangkok, with an alert about 30 minutes later saying that the water had subsided.

Sunday Times readers also sent in photos and reports of flooding from various parts of Singapore.

Two cars were stranded for about an hour outside the Church of St Vincent de Paul, as floodwaters rose to knee-high levels along a stretch of Yio Chu Kang Road.

Said housewife Elaine Chow, 33: "The water level was up to the wheels, and I think the cars' engines may have stalled."

Several bystanders tried to push the cars out of the flooded stretch of road but were unsuccessful, she said, adding that a tow truck appeared later to help one of the cars.

A community plaza in Ang Mo Kio Street 31, near Block 312, had floodwaters up to a metre high, said Mr Choy Weng Meng, 34, a contract administrator. "This is the first time I've seen such bad ponding. Maybe the drainage could not handle so much rain," he said.

December is typically the wettest month of the year. In its fortnightly forecast given at the start of the month, the National Environment Agency said the north-east monsoon season will result in more rain and cooler temperatures. The public can expect short, thundery showers in the afternoons and early evenings, with moderate to heavy rain on one or two days.