Obstructed earth drain worsened Tampines flash flood: PUB
A flash flood at at Tampines Avenue 12 on 8 January was exacerbated by an obstructed earth drain near a construction site, according to the Public Utilities Board (PUB).
At a media briefing on Wednesday (17 January), the national water agency said that the flash flood was caused by intense rainfall that morning, which overwhelmed the “design capacity” of a roadside drain along Tampines Avenue 12.
“Our investigations showed that a temporary construction access road built by the contractor had obstructed the earth drain. This caused the water to overflow into the roadside drain at Tampines Avenue 12,” said the PUB.
The earth drain near a construction site for an ongoing Housing and Development Board project was supposed to help channel away some of the rain water.
However, the earth drain was blocked by a temporary construction access road built by the contractor, Hua Tiong. This caused the storm runoff to overflow into the roadside drain at Tampines 12 and worsened the flooding in the area.
“PUB is working with the developer to improve the drainage at the access road. This will help improve the situation at Tampines Avenue 12 in an event of intense storm. A permanent drainage system will be built in tandem with the upcoming development project on the adjacent site,” said PUB.
Widespread rain fell over Singapore on the morning of 8 January, with the heaviest rainfall of 118.8mm recorded at the Kim Chuan Road rain gauge. This rainfall is about half of Singapore’s average monthly rainfall in January.
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