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SINGAPORE: Heavy rains hit various parts of Singapore on Monday (November 2), bringing strong gusts of wind and flash flooding in certain areas.
“Heavy rains in Singapore in the afternoon caused flash flooding in three locations: Upper Paya Lebar Road, Lorong Gambir and Mount Vernon Road, the national water agency PUB said in a statement on Facebook late Monday.
The flooding lasted between 30 and 40 minutes, PUB said, adding that the first flash flood occurred around 3 p.m.
Among the flash flood locations, the strongest rain of around 131.4mm was recorded at Tai Seng from 14.40 to 18.10, PUB said. This represents more than half of Singapore’s average monthly precipitation in November, and is within the top 1% of daily maximum precipitation records for the past 39 years, it added.
A view of the Singapore skyline from the Chinatown area on November 2, 2020.
READ: More Warmer Days in the First Two Weeks of November: Met Service
PUB earlier on Monday had tweeted about heavy rains, asking the public to avoid certain areas due to the risk of flash floods as water levels in certain drains and canals reached 90 percent.
Among the affected areas are Siang Kuang Avenue on Upper Serangoon, Lorong Lew Lian, Sims Drive, MacPherson Road, Balestier Road and Hougang Avenue 7.
A resident of Bunga Rampai Place, on Upper Paya Lebar Road, told CNA that the road along his living area was flooded around 3.30 p.m.
Photos taken by Phua Yeow Meng showed a car submerged in water more than half of its wheel and a man with flood water up to calf level.
Other photos of the incident showed driveways in murky water, with overturned garbage containers and traffic cones.
Phua said she did not expect the downpour to become so intense and that members of her household rushed to collect her clothes and shoes as the waters rose.
Flash floods are seen at a residence near Upper Paya Lebar Road. (Photo: Phua Yeow Meng)
PUB said its rapid response teams were deployed to flood sites to provide assistance and inspect the drainage system for obstructions.
“Residents of the Paya Lebar Gardens estate along Upper Paya Lebar Road (Service Road) succeeded in deploying the portable PUB issued flood barriers that were provided to them, while PUB officers also distributed inflatable sandbags as an additional precaution against flooding, “he said.
In addition to the torrential rain, motorists along MacPherson Road were blocked by a downed tree Monday afternoon.
Images shared on social media showed the downed tree across the road amid the heavy downpour. A post in the Facebook group SG Road Vigilante said that the road was blocked for motorists heading towards Paya Lebar.
The fallen tree along MacPherson Road. (Photo: Facebook / SG Road Vigilante)
The Land Transportation Authority tweeted around 4 p.m. about an obstacle on MacPherson Road towards Tannery Road and Kallang Pudding Road, warning motorists to avoid affected lanes.
The National Parks Board (NParks) was alerted about the fallen tree around 3:15 p.m. Then the 12m tree was felled around 4:20 pm.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) tweeted in an update around 6.40pm that the weather for the rest of Monday would be cloudy, with stormy rains mainly in the northern, eastern and central regions expected Tuesday afternoon.
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