SINGAPORE - Intense rain over many areas of the island on Wednesday (March 2) evening caused flash floods in Punggol Way, near the slip road to Tampines Expressway, and Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) towards East Coast Parkway (ECP) after the Buangkok Drive exit.
PUB said its Quick Response Teams were deployed to render help, alongside the Land Transport Authority, the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Traffic Police.
The national water agency issued flood risk warnings for many other locations, including Jalan Boon Lay, Upper Paya Lebar Road, and Woodlands Road.
In social media posts, PUB said water levels in drains and canals reached 90 per cent in Tanjong Pagar Road and Craig Road at around 3.50pm, as well as Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 and Teck Whye Lane at around 4.10pm.
Puay Hee Avenue and Siak Kew Avenue, which are near Upper Serangoon Road, also saw water levels rise past 90 per cent.
The public were advised to avoid all these areas at the time.
The flash floods at Punggol Way subsided at 6.35pm, and KPE towards ECP at 6.55pm.
PUB said Wednesday that the heaviest rainfall recorded in eastern Singapore was 110.3mm at Sengkang East rainfall station from 4.40pm to 6.40pm. This corresponds to 73 per cent of Singapore’s average monthly rainfall in March and lies within the top 2 per cent of maximum daily rainfall records since 1981.
The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) had earlier forecast thundery showers on most days for the first half of March.
This is because the monsoon rain band is likely to remain over the region, with the prevailing north-east monsoon season forecast to persist over Singapore for the first half of the month.
MSS said one can expect winds blowing from the north or north-east on most days, but they may come from the south-west or west on a few days.
During this period, short thundery showers are expected over parts of the island in the afternoon, extending into the evening on a few days.
The MSS said this is due to strong daytime heating of land areas and the convergence of winds over Singapore and the surrounding vicinity.
The weatherman’s four-day forecast for Thursday to Sunday are thundery showers in the late afternoon and evening.
