He was told that a storm had wreaked havoc across the island.

Mr Toh, who is employed by a company contracted by NParks to clear fallen trees, headed to his first location of the night in Coronation Road.

'The damage was very severe. A tree had fallen and was blocking the road. I quickly called my men down to the site, and then I moved on to another place,' said the 58-year-old team leader.

It would be 8pm on Thursday before he eventually called it a day. By then, he had inspected more than 50 locations and even used his chainsaw to cut and remove smaller branches.

Last Wednesday a Sumatra squall, marked by thunderstorms and gusty winds, swept through Singapore between 11pm and just after midnight.

Mean wind speeds of 33kmh to 54kmh were recorded, with the strongest gust at 83kmh detected in the western areas. On average, wind speed ranges from 25kmh to 35kmh.

That night, NParks received calls from the police and the public about the damage to trees. It alerted its contractors, which sent out five teams of four to five people each.

Still, motorists on Thursday morning were stuck in at least two massive jams in Queenstown and the Pan-Island Expressway.

NParks director of streetscape Simon Longman said it was only notified of the obstruction in these areas in the morning.

Read the full report in The Sunday Times.