PUB to lend new anti-flood devices to residents and businesses for monsoon season

SINGAPORE - National water agency PUB will be deploying new portable flood protection barriers for the monsoon season.

With the start of the monsoon season, flash floods are expected to hit low-lying areas in the eastern and central parts of Singapore, such as Lorong Melayu and Syed Alwi Road.

To help residences and businesses in these areas prevent flood waters from coming into their premises, the national water agency PUB will for the first time lend flood protection devices.

The dam easy flood panels (DFP) will be loaned to 20 homes and shophouses in flood-prone and low-lying areas such as Lorong Marzuki, Mimosa Walk, Tampines Road, Everitt Road and Lorong 104 Changi.

New portable barriers in public areas, such as roads and pavements, will also be deployed by the PUB in the event of flash floods in these areas.

In a statement on these two new devices on Friday (Nov 22), the PUB said the north-east monsoon season is expected here from the second half of this month and will extend into March next year.

The first two months of the season will see frequent and heavy thundery showers, and flash floods may occur, the PUB said.

Both of the devices will be used to prevent floods and minimise the effects they can cause.

Measuring 0.6m high and weighing 20kg, the DFP is an extendable panel with an inflatable seal that provides temporary flood protection.

Each set costs PUB $1,200 and it will be given to 16 homes and four shophouses for a year.

PUB plans to buy 50 more units from the British manufacturer.

The DFP is initially placed across a doorway that might be prone to flood waters before having its side panels extended using a lever .

The user has to then manually pump the DFP to inflate it.

One of the residents that PUB is lending the DFP to is IT engineer K.S. Lim, who lives in a two-storey house in Tampines .

Mr Lim, 47, said that water does seep into his home when there is heavy rain.

He said that deploying the DFP is not easy and he is concerned that his 83-year-old father who lives with him will not be able to use it.

"It is better than having nothing so I am thankful, but I cannot expect my elderly father to lift this and operate it. Hopefully there will be better technology to make such devices easier to use," he said.

PUB said that it will have officers on call to help residents like Mr Lim to install the DFP if they need help.

The agency will also be mobilising portable flood barriers this monsoon season.

These barriers will be deployed by its officers to divert floodwaters on roads and pavements so that traffic and people can pass when heavy rains and flash floods occur.

PUB has purchased 15 sets of these barriers from a Swedish company.

Each set has 10 individual barriers and costs $3,800.

Mr Thomas Soh, senior principal engineer for drainage operations at PUB's catchment and waterways department, said the agency has been trialling these barriers since June, and is looking to purchase 35 more sets.

The agency is also considering using these devices in construction sites.

These barriers are lightweight and self-anchoring, which will allow its officers to quickly deploy them in the field.

According to Mr Soh, these barriers can also hold floodwaters of up to about 50cm. He added that the highest that floodwaters have reached here is between 30cm and 40cm.

These two new devices are the latest in the agency's efforts to prevent floods from occurring in homes, businesses and public areas.

Last year, it announced that businesses and residents in flood-prone areas could request sandbags from PUB.

It also issued advisories to about 600 residents and businesses in low-lying, flood-prone areas to help them protect their premises from flood waters.

Mr Yeo Keng Soon, PUB's director of catchment and waterways, said the two new kinds of barriers will complement PUB's existing measures and it will continue to find new ways to prevent and curb damage from flood waters.