In Anticipation Of Not An Orchard Reservoir

The Meteorological Services Division had issued warning of a very heavy rain yesterday morning.

Heavy showers with thunder and gusty winds was expected over many areas of Singapore yesterday morning and Public Utalities Board (PUB) said flash floods may occur in low-lying areas.

What we saw last Wednesday, flood at Orchard Road, might happen again.

The worst-hit Orchard Road / Scotts Road intersection. 

 

People were reminded of the implications of a simple act of convenience - littering. The flash flood is known to be caused by choked drains.

 

Choked drains led to flash floods.  

 

The choked drains which was inspected every 3 to 6 months were the cause of massive flooding in Orchard Road. 

 

The Wednesday investigations was carried out after the water level in the drains had fully subsided within one hour, at about 11.30am. It traced the cause to a culvert near Delfi Orchard. The culvert diverts water from Nassim and Cuscaden Road into two sections of Stamford Canal, which runs along Orchard Road. The thorough investigations included a hydraulic analysis and physical checks of the Stamford Canal drainage system. 

 

The heavy build-up of debris carried by rainwater during Wednesday morning's intense rain partially trapped in the culvert caused the blockage in rainwater to be diverted into only one section of the Stamford Canal drainage system, just behind Tanglin Shopping Centre. The mostly-vegetation area was eventually built up and was trapped in a drain downstream, leading to rainwater overflowing onto Orchard Road.

 

Hence, the agency will immediately step up the frequency of maintenance inspections of critical closed drains every month, instead of every 3 to 6 months to ensure that such blockages do not occur again although it has already put in place a comprehensive system comprising litter traps and maintenance of drainage system to ensure the drains remain clear and free-flowing. At present, contractors are deployed after every storm to check and clear debris from the drains. 

 

More litter traps will be installed in the open sections of drains to trap debris carried into the drains during a downpour. More water level sensors will also be installed to detect any irregular spikes in water levels along Stamford Canal to enable closer monitoring of unusual peaks and dips in water levels and to enhance investigations. 

 

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When the rain first started at about 8am, PUB mobilised its contractors and staff on standby at Cuscaden Road, Wilby Road, Jalan Haji Alias and Little India, the hotspots and flood-prone areas. The flood gate at the Upper Bukit Timah area was operated. SMS alerts were sent to the management of condominiums located in the water level sensor area. 

 

The Traffic Police were alerted when the torrent intensified at about 9.15am. 

 

PUB advised the public to exercise caution as flash floods may still occur in the event of heavy storms. They can obtain the latest weather reports, including heavy rain warnings, by tuning in to radio broadcasts, calling NEA's weather forecast hotline at 6542 7788, visiting  the NEA website  or accessing  the mobile weather service.

 

Singapore's national water agency PUB maintains that its drainage systems are developed for Singapore's rapid urbanisation.

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The National Environment Agency, (NEA), has recruited some 170 Litter-Free Ambassadors. The first batch of these ambassadors fanned out across Singapore's 24 hotspots and wasted no time in spreading the word - Rubbish Belongs To The Bin.

 

They are acting as the eyes and ears on 24 litter hotspots, such as Yishun Avenue 6, Joo Chiat Road, the area near Choa Chu Kang MRT station/bus interchange and Stirling Road area near Punggol Community Indoor Sports Hall. The area outside the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) is known to be blacklisted as about 800 litterbugs have been caught in the Stirling Road area since 2007.

The badge of Litter-Free Ambassadors will patrol litter hotspots at least once a month. Although they do not have the power to issue fines, it is hoped that their presence will help to promote responsible behaviour and encourage others to speak up when they spot a litterbug in the act. They have been trained on ways to approach litterbugs - They will try to persuade the culprits to pick up the littered litter when seeing someone littering. They will be on a look out for bins that cannot hold any more litter, and new litter hotposts. All these effort and inputs will be forwarded to the NEA - Small acts like these will go a long way in fixing the problem. 

 

Littering cigarette butts, drink-cans and wrappers although may get out of the sight, but it does not vanish into thin air - It might be swept away by a cleaning worker, or it might end up in a drain, canal or water passage.

 

The public can also call PUB's 24-hour Call Centre at 1800-284 6600 to report obstructions in drains or to check the flood situation. If the public knows of any other affected areas, they are advised to send details and photos.

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The worst flash-flood in Orchard Road. 

 

Heavy downpour that caused flash floods on Wednesday morning wreaked havoc on many parts of central Singapore, flooding basement carparks and shops, and making roads impassable to cars.

The worst-hit area was the Orchard Road and Scotts Road intersection, with large stretches from Paterson Road - where Ion Orchard and Wheelock Towers are. Ngee Ann City submerged in nearly half a metre of flood waters.

The flood in the worst-hit Orchard caused shopkeepers many problems. Some businesses are reeling from flood damage with the main damage is likely to come from the costs of replacing carpets, furniture and merchandise.
Those with parquet floorings saw signs of damage much later. Thus they will need some time to assess the damage and wait for quotes from contractors for repairs.
And some, just pick up whatever is left as they cannot count on the mall management to help foot the bill.

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The Orchard Road Business Association, (ORBA), urged retailers to fall back on their own insurance policies if the damage is within the premises. They have to rely on their own insurance policies as it is not under the purview of the mall's management or owners unless the management has done something to contribute to the damage. The problems now, are flowing over to insurance companies.

Insurance companies expect the claims to come mainly from businesses which are equipment intensive or are located at the basement of buildings and they will have to compensate for damages filed under "works of nature".

Firms like NTUC Income are expecting a number of claims from businesses which suffered losses and those who bought the policy that covers flood and, or "business interruption", to cover the period where they have to close down and they may lose income during that period.

The expected insurance claims from Orchard Road flood is estimated to amount to at least S$6 million for now and will likely increase when more cases are filed. 

The basements of one of the shopping malls.

 

The floods had kept away customers too. There was no sales on that fateful Wednesday but just splash at Orchard Road. 

 

The basements of some shopping malls along Orchard Road were flooded, damaging some of the retailers' goods.

 

The basement of Liat Towers was flooded, affecting shops like Starbucks and Hermes Luxury goods retailer Hermes handbags costing thousands of dollars were destroyed in a flash by the Wednesday flood. 

 

The staff of 14 at the 3-day-old Wendy's restaurant in Liat Towers took service levels to the extreme when they put their customers on their backs and carried them to drier ground upon seeing flood waters started rising above knee level at about 10.20am when brownish rainwater started streaming in. 

 

The restaurant is expected to close for up to 6 weeks as it would have to spend some time in re-doing the outlet. It is going back to the drawing board as everything had been affected by the flood and it has to start doing up things again, from the basic.

 

In the meantime, its 40 employees are deployed to other outlets in Lau Pa Sat and Jurong Point, which are now open 24/7 during the World Cup Season. The eatery is likely to incur a loss of over S$500,000 worth of damages to its equipment and infrastructure. 

 

SCDF personnel were called in to pump water out of the flooded basement of Liat Towers.

 

In Lucky Plaza, one of the older buildings, only a few shops had opened at about 10.30am and many others were still setting up for the day. 

 

The first negative sign that the day would be bad for retailers came when water started cascading down the stairs from the street into basement stores. Shops stocked everything from mobile phones to computer peripherals. 

 

Some shopkeepers loss S$2,000 per day, and others suffered heavier losses between S$8,000 and S$10,000 worth of goods in the flood. They scrambled to save their wares but found themselves in metre-high water in no time. Besides damage to their goods, several shops at the mall also suffered electricity trips.

The retailers, like Watson's, said the management should know that the basement of the building floods every year.

There are about 90 stores on that level, many of them selling electronic goods. It was the worst flooding they had seen in years. 

 

PUB and its contractors had helped owners of affected buildings to pump out water from the basements. 

The Orchard Road Business Association is looking at working with the relevant authorities and government agencies on preventive measures. The Wednesday downpour is the worst as it had greatly affected shopping malls. The flood is quite unusual and it is quite unfortunate that it happens once in 25 years. The association is very concerned and sympathised with retailers, especially those at Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza. 

 

Besides Liat Towers, some shops at Lucky Plaza are also not ready to open.

The 300mm high flood waters had flooding basement carparks. The knee-high  flood waters forced about 15 parked cars to be evacuated. Workers were sent in with generators and long pipes to pump out the water. 

 

PUB advised the public to exercise caution as flash floods may still occur in the event of heavy storms.

 

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Marriot Hotel, which was in the flood area was not affected and none of the events held on its premises were cancelled. However, the hotel also has contingency plans in place, in the form of suction pumps located in its basement.

 

Underground, MRT trains did not see an extra flow of passengers or rainwater because the PUB had advised the operator to ensure that the stations are flood-resistant. Anti-flooding features are being built into MRT stations based on the highest flooding level ever recorded in the past 20 to 30 years. A flight of stairs can prevent rainwater from overflowing into MRT stations underground. 

 

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Not only shops were affected. Homes along Orchard Road, Bukit Timah and Thomson Road were flooded too as heavy rains swelled up canals around the central areas of Singapore as the intense flooding was so sudden. Within 2 hours of rainfall, the deluge submerged roads and spilled into retail areas and private homes. The flood waters fully covered open drains, sidewalks and bus stops.

Bus Stop. - All Photos: The Straits Times 

 

Litters, twigs and dead leaves swirled and floating along the dirt-red swirl of water just below where the cold and wet commuters waiting for buses at bus stops. Bus services were disrupted for a few hours, from about 10am to 1pm. Many Singaporeans faced with one of the worst flash floods which havoc in many areas last Wednesday after a heavy early morning downpour. 

 

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers had to be deployed too, to help people off buses and stalled cars. The officers were out in force, helped to evacuate 60 passengers from 2 double-decker buses stuck in flood waters and free about 10 people trapped in 6 cars to safety. In some cases, SCDF personnel had to carry children out of the vehicles.

 

Public Utalities Board (PUB) despatched its officers and contractors to help stranded motorists, residents whose homes were flooded and owners of premises at affected locations.

 

At the Orchard Road and the Scotts Road intersection. Photo: Stomp

 

Part of the CTE had to be closed for about two hours on Wednesday due to a fallen tree and it was then closed to prevent traffic from going into Orchard Road. 

 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) dispatched 2 fire engines to the junction of Orchard Road and Paterson Road. Traffic was brought to a crawl and it created chaos, especially towards the city. PUB, Traffic Police and SCDF officers were at the various sites providing help to motorists and directing traffic.

 

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The last known major flooding at the Orchard Road / Scotts Road junction was in 1984. It was the worst flooding in the prime shopping belt since the Stamford Canal was widened. The canal had served well since it was widened.

 

The national water agency, PUB said the Wednesday's flood was the worst in Orchard Road since the area's main drainage artery, Stamford Canal, was widened in 1984. Nevertheless, compared to the previous years when flood covered 2,000 hectares, now it is 66 hectares. There are still areas that will be subjected to floods. But the nature of the flood is very different from the previous flood.

 

In the past, it used to be very extensive, and for a longer duration, and the depth of the water is a lot of worse. And those floods can be very disruptive and disabling. 

Put all these together, everybody has to get down to the root of today's flooding - The average rainfall for June is 162 mm and last Wednesday's rainfall was 101mm within 2 hours.  

 

The public was warned that flash floods may still occur in the event of heavy storms, and the public was urged to exercise caution.