Flash floods hit western Singapore

By Wayne Chan | Posted: 12 November 2011 2137 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Flash floods hit various parts of western Singapore on Saturday. According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), the highest rainfall recorded as at 5.30 pm was 91.4 mm at Kent Ridge in the West Coast area. The afternoon heavy downpour caused a canal at Block 611 in Clementi West to overflow. One resident at the area said he's never seen anything like this in all his 10 years living there. "When I saw it, I find it very dangerous, because the volume of water was huge; it carried a mass of water, and the current was moving very fast and splashed very strong waves on to the bridge here," said Mr Lim, a Clementi West resident. Mr Lim said the flood lasted for about 45 minutes. He said: "All the small drains are all submerged and the water splashed into the HDB block, and all the trees, plants are all half submerged." National water agency PUB said the flash floods were due to the intense rainfall and high tide of about 3 metres on Saturday afternoon. And this was what caused the Sungei Pandan Kechil canal to overflow. Flash floods also occurred along the AYE towards ECP and at Neo Pee Teck Lane, but they subsided within 20 minutes. The flash floods along the AYE towards ECP caused two lanes to be affected while one lane remained passable. PUB said the length of the affected section was about 100m and water depth was about 15cm. At Neo Pee Teck Lane, two lanes were affected. The length of the affected section was about 90m and water depth was about 30cm. Water from the road went into the porch of two houses there. The area is a flood-prone area and PUB has already scheduled drainage improvement works there. The works will start in the first quarter of 2012. PUB said Saturday's downpour peaked at 1.20pm - 1.50pm during which 52.6mm of rain fell. The rate of rainfall peak intensity during this period was about 105.2mm/hr.
Heavy downpour causes canal at Clementi to overflow on 12 Nov 2011.

Flash floods hit several areas in Singapore

By Julia Ng/Wayne Chan | Posted: 23 December 2011 1757 hrs

Picture of floods sent in by a Channel NewsAsia viewer

SINGAPORE: Prolonged heavy rain over the southern and central parts of Singapore on Friday afternoon led to flash floods in several areas. National water agency PUB said that from 2.20pm to 5.20pm, Orchard Road saw a total recorded rainfall of 152.8 millimetres. However, PUB said there was no flooding at Orchard Road. Instead, water ponded at the open area of Liat Towers, the underpass between Lucky Plaza and Ngee Ann City, and the basement of Lucky Plaza due to the sustained heavy downpour. This activated the flood barricades at Liat Towers. But it wasn't enough to stop the water from entering. Seng Woon Fa, marketing and brand manager at Wendy's Restaurant, said: "The water started coming in at 5pm. By 5.20pm, we started to evacuate all our customers. "The barricade at the outer level and inner level does not work because the water came in too suddenly and probably there is something wrong with the system... Our daily business will be affected about 60 per cent." Mr Seng said he will try to resume business as soon as possible once all equipment in the restaurant has been checked after cleaning up and it is safe to switch the power back on. Elsewhere, flash floods occurred at Cuscaden Road, Newton Circus, Kampong Java, Lincoln Road, Wee Nam Road, Cambridge Road, the junction of Moulmein Road and Thomson Road in front of United Square, and the junction of Bukit Timah and Sixth Avenue. PUB had sent out alerts to advise motorists to avoid these areas. Flood waters reportedly reached up to a height of 30 centimetres for some areas and generally subsided within one hour, except at Cambridge Road, Newton Circus and the junction of Moulmein Road and Thomson Road in front of United Square, where waters subsided by 6pm. One viewer, Lee Siew Cheng, said she was trapped at United Square along flood-hit Thomson Road from 5pm to 6pm. She said she could only get out after the knee-high water subsided an hour later, as taxis did not want to go into the flood-hit area. PUB said the affected areas are mainly low-lying areas. Up to eight gates at Marina Barrage were opened to maintain the water level at Marina Reservoir within the normal range. The last time all eight gates were opened was on October 21 this year. PUB added that Rochor Canal is currently being upgraded to improve the drainage system serving Cambridge Road, Newton Circus and the junction of Moulmein Road and Thomson Road in front of United Square. The works commenced in October 2011 and are expected to be completed in January 2014. The Bukit Timah Canal between Wilby Road to Maple Road is being widened and works will be completed by December 2012. The drains at Wee Nam Road will also be expanded by 2013. Meanwhile, PUB has advised the public to exercise caution as flash floods may occur in the event of heavy storms. The public can also call the PUB's 24-hour Call Centre at 1800-2846600 or go to PUB's Facebook Page or PUB's iPhone app iPUBOne to report flash floods or to check on the flood situation. The public can also get updates on water level information in key canals/drains at PUB's Facebook Page, via Twitter at twitter.com/PUBSingapore, or through PUB's website. For the latest weather reports, including heavy rain warnings, members of the public can call the National Environment Agency's (NEA) weather forecast hotline at 65427788, visit the NEA website or use the mobile weather service (Weather@SG - weather.nea.gov.sg). SMS alert services on heavy rain warning and water level information are also open to public subscription at www.pub.gov.sg.

Flash floods hit parts of s'pore

04:45 AM Jan 22, 2012

Flash floods which hit several parts of Singapore yesterday afternoon due to heavy rainfall have put a damper on the festive Chinese New Year spirit. At Kovan wet market, some stall holders said rain water poured into their shops, which resulted in a drop in customers and sales. Stall holders, who expect the damage to run into the thousands, told Channel NewsAsia this is the second time the market had been hit by flash floods. Yesterday's downpour also caused flash floods in Bukit Timah, Tampines St 81 and at the Seletar

Expressway's exit towards the Bukit Timah Expressway. The flash flood at Tampines St 81 subsided in 17 minutes, according to national water agency PUB, the quickest among areas hit. Floodwaters at Jalan Tari Lilin in Jalan Kayu took 40 minutes to subside. PUB had issued an alert earlier in the afternoon, warning of moderate to heavy thundery showers over many areas of Singapore between 4.35pm and 6.45pm. Channel NewsAsia

Droughts more worrying than flash floods: Balakrishnan

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SINGAPORE - While Dr Vivian Balakrishnam commended the recommendations put forward by the expert panel working to ease the flooding situation, he said more should be done to guard against dry spells as well. Dr Balakrishnan was speaking at ECo Day Out at South West today - a community driven recycling event.
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The environment minister said that what has been happening in Singapore is a greater variability in the weather, which means more intense rain but also a possibility of droughts, The Straits Times (ST) reported. According to ST, Singapore is likely to face a dry spell soon, due to the north-east monsoon, which typically starts in February. Hence, Singapore's investments and efforts towards building a flood prevention infrastructure should be just as effective in managing other extreme weather conditions like droughts, a local news channel reported. "A prolonged drought is something of a greater worry to me than a flash flood, which can be resolved over 15 minutes to half an hour," he said. He added that he is keeping a close eye on the recommendations put forth by the panel to ensure that they also take into consideration future possibilities of dry seasons. Dr Balakrishnam gave some examples of the recommendations, such as the installation of green roofs, building of detention ponds and using water more efficiently at a local level. Other recommendations include the use of rooftops and more porous pavements. While Dr Balakrishnan said he agrees with all the recommendations, he added that it will not be an easy task to turn them into reality. He said besides the issue of securing finances, there will be trade-offs involved. For example, other potential alternative uses for the land required. He said it will take time to produce a plan which is both realistic and one that the public will agree on is a value-for-money proposition. Dr Balakrishnan also updated the public on the anti-flood measures in the works. The improvement works at Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza is to be completed within three months, and the Public Utilities Board (PUB) will have about six months to decide whether to go ahead with the building of detention ponds, he said. If they are to be built, PUB will also have to decide where they will be located. Other works in progress include the Stamford Canal, which is to be checked within nine months to see if its current capacity if being maximised, and an accurate digital elevation map of Singapore, which is to take shape by the end of the year.

Overview
A tropical island surrounded by seas, Singapore receives abundant rainfall especially during the monsoon seasons. The average annual rainfall is about 2,400mm.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Singapore experienced wide-spread flooding during the monsoon seasons, especially in the city centre, which was built on relatively low-lying land. Today, Singapore is relieved of prolonged floods. Most times, our drains are able to cope with the rain that we receive. However, extremely heavy rainfall can sometimes exceed the capacity that the drains are designed for, especially in low-lying areas. That is when flash floods small and localised floods that come and go relatively quickly may occur.

Through concerted effort, careful land development planning and a comprehensive and continuous drainage improvement programme, flood prone areas have been greatly reduced from about about 3,200 hectares in the 1970s to about 49 hectares today despite increased urbanization, which usually would have resulted in more floods. Through an ongoing drainage improvement programme, PUB will further reduce flood prone areas to 40 hectares by 2013.

Flood prone areas in the 1970s

Flood

prone

areas

now

PUB takes every flood incident seriously and will assess the cause of the flood. If necessary, PUB will work with other agencies to improve the drainage system or raise the road levels. PUB also engages building owners on appropriate flood protection measures to prevent a recurrence.

Flood Management Strategies

PUB adopts three key strategies for flood management and they are: 1. Providing adequate drainage ahead of new developments

Prior to any new land development, PUB works with agencies such as the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Housing Development Board (HDB) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to map out necessary drainage measures. For example, to ensure that new roads are protected against flooding, PUB works closely with the relevant agencies to ensure that they are built to the required levels for flood protection and drainage systems along these roads are adequate.
2. Implementing flood protection measures

To provide additional flood protection measures, PUB has put in place a Code of Practice on Surface Water Drainage that stipulates drainage requirements. This includes minimum platform and crest levels for buildings and entrances to underground facilities (e.g. basement carparks, underground MRT stations, etc). In the case of older buildings, PUB will work closely with building owners to provide advice on appropriate measures to protect the buildings from being affected by floods.
3. Continual drainage improvement in flood prone areas

These include widening and deepening of drains and canals to ensure adequacy of the drainage system. However, in low-lying areas, drainage improvement projects are effective only if the surrounding ground level is also raised. Such projects will be carried out when the area is redeveloped. For existing low-lying and flood-prone roads, the road levels would be raised in either in conjunction with drainage upgrading works or LTAs road upgrading works. One example is the raising of Orchard Road, which will give it an additional flood protection against intense rainfalls experienced in June 2010. When an area is earmarked for redevelopment, PUB will review the drainage system in that area and raise the building and road levels to

increase the level of flood protection.

Protection Measures
For better protection against possible floods, building owners and residents can look into various flood protection measures.

Buildings
PUB has been assisting and offering consultative advice to building owners whose premises were affected by recent flood incidents. To better protect against floods, buildings can add structural measures such as humps and flood barriers to protect their basement levels from floodwaters. They can also link the water-level sensors in the basement carparks to their alarm systems in order to warn their users of flooding.

The Forum

After activating flood gate

Residential premises
Apart from storing belongings on high levels, home-owners in the low-lying areas can look in to having floor boards or sand bags on standby. In the event of flooding incidents or to install flood protection measures, building and residential owners can contact PUB for advice at 1800-2846600.

PUB revamps drainage approach to strengthen Singapore's flood resilience

Comprehensive action plan will see PUB using advanced modelling tools, piloting a flood forecasting system and increasing the capacities of our drainage systems through 20 projects within five years. PUB has accepted the recommendations of the Expert Panel for Drainage Design and Flood Protection Measures and announced today its action plan to strengthen Singapores flood resilience. Recognising the challenges posed by weather uncertainties and increasing urbanisation, we have put in place a multi-pronged plan that covers the entire spectrum of drainage and flood management. This includes implementing higher drainage design standards and holistic solutions, building new capabilities and working with stakeholders to improve preparedness. Through these efforts, we seek to minimise and mitigate the impact of flash floods in Singapore, said Mr Chew Men Leong, Chief Executive of PUB, the national water agency. Implementing higher drainage standards and holistic solutions Over the next five years, PUB will spend about $750 million to carry out 20 drainage improvement projects to achieve a higher level of flood protection. The capacity of six major canals (Bukit Timah 1st Diversion Canal, Geylang River, Alexandra Canal, Rochor Canal, Sungei Bedok and Sungei Kallang), will be increased by 30 to 45% to meet the higher standards stipulated in the revised Code of Practice on Surface Water Drainage. In addition, PUB will carry out an in-depth examination of each catchment and implement catchment-specific solutions to achieve the higher drainage and flood protection standards To do that, PUB will adopt a holistic approach that covers the entire drainage system. Recognising that expanding drainage will not be sufficient, especially for areas that are more developed and have site constraints, PUB will go beyond the conventional pathway solutions (such as expanding drains/canals and building diversion canals and detention ponds) to developing solutions at source (where rainwater falls) to better manage stormwater run-off, and at receptors (where rainwater flows [2] to) to protect buildings at the local level. Developing guidelines with agencies and stakeholders PUB will work closely with public sector agencies, developers and professional bodies to introduce new guidelines to facilitate the implementation of solutions at source and receptors. These new guidelines will include managing surface run-off for new developments through the use of features such as local detention ponds and green surfaces. PUB will also work with agencies to improve the flood protection guidelines for buildings. PUB aims to have these guidelines in place within a year. Reviewing drainage masterplan In view of the increasing weather uncertainties and urbanisation, PUB will review its drainage masterplan once every three years. The masterplan will be made public by the end of 2013. Improving flow capacity of Stamford Canal Specifically for Stamford Canal catchment, PUB will implement immediate measures to maximise the flow capacity of Stamford Canal. These include introducing a polymer lining to smoothen the canal walls and diversion of some services such as sewer and NEWater pipelines. The lining works are expected to be completed in 9 months while the diversion of services will take up to a year. These immediate measures will help increase Stamford Canals flow capacity by an estimated 10%. Longer-term solutions including the construction of a diversion canal and detention ponds are currently being studied, and PUB will finalise these plans by May 2012.
[1]

Building new capabilities To expand its modelling capabilities, PUB will develop 3-dimensional Digital Elevation Maps (DEMs) and link them to our hydrodynamic model. This will allow PUB to validate drainage system performance, measure surface run-off, determine residual flood risks and enhance forecasting of floods. This modelling will be carried out for Marina Catchment, including the Stamford Canal catchment, by end of 2012. PUB plans to do the same for all major catchments by 2013. PUB will be collaborating with the Singapore Land Authority which is leading the effort to develop a national DEM for whole-of-government applications. Working with stakeholders to improve preparedness PUB will continue to keep the public informed before, during and after the occurrence of flash floods. To provide timely alerts and updates to the public, various information channels such as the PUB website, smart phone applications, mobile text messages and social media platforms are already in place. We would also like to call on the public to help us by reporting clogged drains and flash floods so that quick follow-up action can be taken. The public can help by keeping the catchments and waterways clean so that the drains and canals can remain freeflowing. The public has also been forthcoming with their suggestions on drainage improvements. PUB will continue to engage the various stakeholder groups to gather feedback and develop ideas to strengthen flood management in Singapore. To enhance the warning system on both potential as well as ongoing flood situations, images from selected CCTVs will be made available to the public through PUBs website by March 2012. In addition, the Meteorological Service Singapore will be enhancing its heavy rain warning service to increase the lead time and allow for earlier warnings to be issued. The enhanced service is expected to be introduced in the later part of the year and will also give the public a better indication of the expected severity of the rainfall. In the next two years, PUB aims to pilot a flood forecasting system based on information from cloud patterns, rainfall and water levels. These initiatives will help to further improve public preparedness. Strengthening Singapores flood resilience is a long-term and ongoing effort. Stakeholder participation continues to be an important element in our inclusive approach. Moving on, we will work more closely with them to develop solutions and improve public preparedness as part of our overall flood management efforts, said Mr Chew. ---------[1]

For example, local storage tanks and ponds, green roofs, rain gardens and porous pavements. For example, raised platform and crest levels and flood barriers.

[2]

CCTV images now available online to improve public preparedness during flood events
The public can access images from 24 CCTVs installed at flood prone areas and hotspots Starting today, members of the public will be able to view closed-circuit television (CCTV) images of 24 locations around the island via PUBs website. The CCTV images will be updated every five minutes, and include areas such as Orchard Road, Shenton Way, Bukit Timah Road, Upper Thomson, Veerasamy Road, Tampines St 81 and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3. Mr William Yeo, PUBs Deputy Director of Catchment and Waterways said, We have installed CCTVs at various locations to help us better monitor real-time site conditions during heavy rainstorms. This enables us to deploy manpower on site faster in the event of a flash flood and provide more timely updates to the public. We are taking this initiative one step further by posting the images of selected CCTVs on PUBs website, so that members of the

public can check out the road conditions at these areas during heavy storms or flood events. This CCTV initiative helps improve public preparedness as part of our overall flood management effort. There are currently a total of 65 CCTVs installed at areas which are flood-prone or have recently experienced flash floods. Images from 24 of these CCTVs will be posted online for public viewing. These are mostly CCTVs located at roads with higher traffic flow. Members of the public can also obtain information before, during and after the occurrence of flash floods via SMS alerts, PUB Facebook at www.facebook.com/PUBsg and PUB Twitter at www.twitter.com/PUBsingapore. The public can also tune in to radio broadcasts for flash flood alerts.

Managing floods ... and droughts

by Sara Grosse
04:45 AM Jan 16, 2012

SINGAPORE - Singapore's investments in anti-flood measures must be just as effective in managing droughts, the other extreme weather condition, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday at a community event. The greater variability in the weather means more intense rain and possible dry spells, which the panel of experts reviewing Singapore's flood protection should bear in mind, he said. "A prolonged drought is something which is of greater worry to me than a flash flood, which can be resolved over 15 minutes to half an hour," said Dr Balakrishnan. "A key point that I'm watching is to make sure that a lot of the recommendations by the panel would also make sense if we have to deal in future with dry seasons or with droughts. "For example, do we really need potable water fit for drinking to be used for washing cars, to clean the streets, to water our plants?" The panel submitted its report on Tuesday. The recommendations included having green rooftops and more porous pavements. While Dr Balakrishnan agreed with all the recommendations, he said there may be some issues in making them a reality. "It means getting the finances and, equally important, there are also trade-offs involved. For instance, land and alternative uses for that land," he said. "It does take some time to make sure we have considered all the factors and come up with a plan that is realistic, which is implementable and one which the public will agree is worth the money that will be spent." He added that national water agency PUB will be busy fixing the flood problem. Improvement work at Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza must be completed within three months, while PUB has about six months to decide if it should go ahead to build detention ponds and their locations. Stamford Canal will be checked within nine months to see if its current capacity is really maximised and, by the end of the year, an accurate digital elevation map of Singapore should take shape.

Singapore throws $750 million at flood and drainage problem

It will be spent in the next five years on canal capacity expansions and better flash flood safeguards.

The projects will cover 20 drainage improvement projects aimed at raising flood protection and reinforcing six major canals like the Alexandra Canal and Rochor Canal, according to the Public Utilities Board in a release. Recognising the challenges posed by weather uncertainties and increasing urbanisation, we have put in place a multi-pronged plan that covers the entire spectrum of drainage and flood management. This includes implementing higher drainage design standards and holistic solutions, building new capabilities and working with stakeholders to improve preparedness. Through these efforts, we seek to minimise and mitigate the impact of flash floods in Singapore, said Mr Chew Men Leong, Chief Executive of PUB, the national water agency. "Over the next five years, PUB will spend about $750 million to carry out 20 drainage improvement projects to achieve a higher level of flood protection. The capacity of six major canals (Bukit Timah 1st Diversion Canal, Geylang River, Alexandra Canal, Rochor Canal, Sungei Bedok and Sungei Kallang), will be increased by 30 to 45% to meet the higher standards stipulated in the revised Code of Practice on Surface Water Drainage." said PUB. "achieve the higher drainage and flood protection standards To do that, PUB will adopt a holistic approach that covers the entire drainage system. Recognising that expanding drainage will not be sufficient, especially for areas that are more developed and have site constraints, PUB will go beyond the conventional pathway solutions (such as expanding drains/canals and building diversion canals and detention ponds) to developing solutions at source (where rainwater falls) to better manage stormwater run-off, and at receptors (where rainwater flows to) to protect buildings at the local level," it added. "Specifically for Stamford Canal catchment, PUB will implement immediate measures to maximise the flow capacity of Stamford Canal. These include introducing a polymer lining to smoothen the canal walls and diversion of some services such as sewer and NEWater pipelines. The lining works are expected to be completed in 9 months while the diversion of services will take up to a year. These immediate measures will help increase Stamford Canals flow capacity by an estimated 10%. Longer-term solutions including the construction of a diversion canal and detention ponds are currently being studied, and PUB will finalise these plans by May 2012," it said further.