Flash floods in various parts of Singapore

[metalslug]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/420283/1/.html

Flash floods in various parts of Singapore
By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 05 April 2009 1841 hrs

Photos 1 of 1

Dark clouds gathering in Tampines

Video

Flash floods in various parts of Singapore



SINGAPORE: There were flash floods in various parts of Singapore, including Marine Parade and Chai Chee Road, on Sunday.

A video sent in by a Channel NewsAsia viewer shows dark clouds gathering in Tampines. The clouds there looked like a small twister, but dissipated after a while.

The flash floods caused a huge headache for some living in the Upper Paya Lebar area.

Once the rain subsided, many in the area were busy cleaning up inside and outside their houses. Some said the water level reached their ankles during the heavy downpour.

For others - they had to deal with damage to their cars.

One car owner said: "(The water level was) about one metre, and my car was flooded. There's a short circuit now. I can't start (my car) and I think a few cars here also have (the same problem)."

The Public Utilities Board’s (PUB’s) director of catchment and waterways, Tan Nguan Sen, said PUB is investigating the cause of the flash floods.

The places with localised flash floods included the MacPherson area, as well as the Upper Paya Lebar Road, which was the worst hit area on Sunday.

The flash floods subsided within 30 minutes.

According to data collected by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the highest rainfall recorded on Sunday was 97.6 mm, which is more than 50 per cent of the monthly average rainfall in April alone.

But this is not unusual during the inter-monsoon season.

- CNA/yt

 

[TeeKee]

God is unhappy over SGP leadership.

brothers and sisters please take ownership of the island back before it is too late..

stop being indifferent anymore...please do something about it!!

Otherwise the big one comes, all of you will be destroyed..

 

[2lanu]

This flood come in the right time with the Marina Barrage just opened. Probably God is also 2lan with the pappiess trumpet their achievement of flood prevention. HAhah

 

[johnny333]

Someone up there is crying for Spore

 

[tiulehloudau]

God is unhappy over SGP leadership.

brothers and sisters please take ownership of the island back before it is too late..

stop being indifferent anymore...please do something about it!!

Otherwise the big one comes, all of you will be destroyed..

hey faggot, it is Ching Ming festival lah......those dead one are crying that they will offer only flower, no food...... because their children religion changes

 

[Royston46]

I just love rainy days!!!



Free car wash for my dirty car!

Hehehehehehehe!

:p

 

[PAPsupporter]

We should be thankful that we have a great PAP government that have managed the land and drainage system well enough to prevent any floods. These minor floods happened is short and everything is back to normal. Of course our great well-prepared authority will looked into this issue and will make future improvements.

 

[po2wq]

We should be thankful that we have a great PAP government that have managed the land and drainage system well enough to prevent any floods. These minor floods ...

a flood, minor or major, is still a flood ...

 

[PAPsupporter]

a flood, minor or major, is still a flood ...

But at least it does not cause any major damage. Luckily our great PAP government has done all the precaution measures.

 

[po2wq]

... The flash floods caused a huge headache for some living in the Upper Paya Lebar area.

Once the rain subsided, many in the area were busy cleaning up inside and outside their houses. Some said the water level reached their ankles during the heavy downpour.

For others - they had to deal with damage to their cars.

One car owner said: "(The water level was) about one metre, and my car was flooded. There's a short circuit now. I can't start (my car) and I think a few cars here also have (the same problem)." ...

But at least it does not cause any major damage. Luckily our great PAP government has done all the precaution measures.

no headache ... as dun stay in paya lebar ... dun hv 2 clean house ... car oso no prob ...


ya, u r rite ... there's no major damage ... million $ salary still remain intact ...

 

[johnny333]

Free car wash for my dirty car!

You do know that rain water is dirty & acidic

When you condider the $$$ you paid for the car, saving a few pennies is being penny wise & pound foolish

 

[Tiu Kwang Yew]

no lah, what got flood?

Only the drain choked.

marine parade well maintained, St reporters got stamps on eyes, cannot see clearly.

flood is like the whole marine parade goes under water. May be one day soon .

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/420283/1/.html

Flash floods in various parts of Singapore
By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 05 April 2009 1841 hrs

Photos 1 of 1

Dark clouds gathering in Tampines

Video

Flash floods in various parts of Singapore



SINGAPORE: There were flash floods in various parts of Singapore, including Marine Parade and Chai Chee Road, on Sunday.

A video sent in by a Channel NewsAsia viewer shows dark clouds gathering in Tampines. The clouds there looked like a small twister, but dissipated after a while.

The flash floods caused a huge headache for some living in the Upper Paya Lebar area.

Once the rain subsided, many in the area were busy cleaning up inside and outside their houses. Some said the water level reached their ankles during the heavy downpour.

For others - they had to deal with damage to their cars.

One car owner said: "(The water level was) about one metre, and my car was flooded. There's a short circuit now. I can't start (my car) and I think a few cars here also have (the same problem)."

The Public Utilities Board’s (PUB’s) director of catchment and waterways, Tan Nguan Sen, said PUB is investigating the cause of the flash floods.

The places with localised flash floods included the MacPherson area, as well as the Upper Paya Lebar Road, which was the worst hit area on Sunday.

The flash floods subsided within 30 minutes.

According to data collected by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the highest rainfall recorded on Sunday was 97.6 mm, which is more than 50 per cent of the monthly average rainfall in April alone.

But this is not unusual during the inter-monsoon season.

- CNA/yt

 

[suteerak1099]

maybe very soon, it'd be lucrative biz to be retailing sampans, kayaks & canoes. the perks? buyers no need to pay for COE, road tax, petrol, ERP, season parking.......etc

 

[metalslug]

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,198125,00.html?

Maid carries sofa instead of elderly couple to safety
They insist she saves furniture first as flash floods hit Paya Lebar residents
By Shree Ann Mathavan

April 07, 2009

TO THE RESCUE: Fear gave Ms Angeline Lawrence strength to carry the sofa, fan and several cushions up the staircase. PICTURES: NG XI JIE

WHEN the heavy downpour started early yesterday afternoon, Indonesian maid Angeline Lawrence, 26, wasn't worried.

She had already experienced three floods - albeit minor ones - in the past one year that she has worked at the double-storey terrace house on Upper Paya Lebar Road.

Each time, the waters rose up to the front gate and no further.

But yesterday's sudden flash floods which happened around 12.40pm was much worse.

The water entered the living room and dining hall in a matter of minutes.

Water also seeped in from the back, flooding the kitchen, a bedroom and a toilet.

Recalled Ms Lawrence: 'The water actually came up to my knees near the front of the house. I was very scared and I thought I was going to die.'

Mr William Yap used wire mesh to cover the pond, but still lost about half of the fish in his pond.

However, the fact that she had two elderly folk under her care - Mr Barkha, 85, who was wheelchair-bound and his wife, Mrs Parsin, 70, forced her to think quickly.

First, she rang her employer, Mrs Ram Gerdev, 52, an administrator, who was out shopping for groceries at the time.

Ms Lawrence thought of carrying Mr Barkha up the stairs as he was lying down in the ground-floor bedroom.

But, as the water level remained well below the bed, he insisted that she move the furniture in the living room first.

So the maid swiftly carried as much furniture as she could up the staircase.

This included a hefty three-seater sofa, an electrical fan and several cushions.

UNDER WATER: Mr Yap snapped this picture with his camera phone. PICTURE: WILLIAM YAP

She said: 'I just thought of saving whatever I could save. I think that when I panicked, somehow I became strong.'

Still, another sofa, several kitchen cabinets, and a printer were damaged.

At least six terrace houses along the same row were flooded to some degree.

When The New Paper team arrived at 2.40pm, the water level in most houses had gone down, leaving a trail of dirt and debris.

A National Environment Agency spokesman said: 'The highest rainfall recorded today was 97.6mm, which is more than 50 per cent of the monthly average rainfall in April.'

However, the spokesman added that this was not unusual before the south-west monsoon, between late March and May. This period typically has light variable winds with afternoon or evening showers, often with thunder.

Mr Tan Nguan Sen, PUB's director of catchment and waterways, noted that the affected areas included Macpherson and Upper Paya Lebar, which was the worst hit.

Mr Tan said: 'The flash floods subsided within 30 minutes. PUB is investigating the cause of the flash floods.'

Fallen tree

The downpour also caused a tree to fall across three lanes of traffic near Concorde Hotel on Orchard Road around 1.40pm.

Police officers were at the scene to assist in traffic control and no one was injured.

NParks helped to remove the tree and normal traffic resumed by 3pm.

Back at Upper Paya Lebar, Mr Ang Soon Ho, 51, a wholesaler of household goods, was one of the residents badly affected.

He counts himself as being 'especially unlucky', as he had moved into his terrace house just two weeks ago after forking out some $30,000 to renovate it.

Now he has two damaged computers, his sofa and speakers are ruined and so are some of his brand new made-to-order cabinets.

One of his two cars, a one-year-old Suzuki SX4, had to be towed away because its water-logged engine wouldn't start. The other car, a Honda Stream, also just a year old, had water inside, but its engine wasn't affected.

He said: 'Of course we are very unhappy, we just moved in and this happens.

'We spent three hours just cleaning up the house, it's really very troublesome.'

While Mr Ang isn't clear yet how much his damages will amount to, he estimates that they will cost him at least $10,000.

Retiree William Yap, 60, said it was the worst flood he has seen in the 37 years he has lived there. His main concern was his precious koi fish, which he keeps in an outdoor pond at the front of his house.

Seeing the sudden flood, he set to work cutting up pieces of wire mesh to cover the pond. But he reckoned that he has lost about half of the 40 fish he had.

He had kept the fish, each costing $200 to $1,000, for about six years.

'Of course I am sad to lose my fish after keeping them for so long,' he said. 'But I'm still thankful I managed to save some.'

 

[halsey02]

We should be thankful that we have a great PAP government that have managed the land and drainage system well enough to prevent any floods. These minor floods happened is short and everything is back to normal. Of course our great well-prepared authority will looked into this issue and will make future improvements.

amen! yah yah yah...minor floods..yah yah yah..amen!