Get ahead of the rush and rainy hours.
Don’t let unexpected flooding from the recent torrential downpour dampen your mood this CNY. With rainy days forecasted over the next week, be prepared and avoid frustrating traffic jams in these flood prone areas and hotspots.
Here’s the list of flash flood prone areas adapted from PUB, National Water Agency
Why are some areas more susceptible to flash floods than others?
There are 2 scenarios for “flooding” situations. Flood prone areas and “hotspots”. Flood prone areas are those areas that are low-lying with a history of flooding, while hotspots are areas that are not low-lying but have experienced flash floods.
PUB’s achievement over the years has been the reduction of flood prone areas in Singapore from about 3,200 hectares in the 1970s to 30.5 hectares today, mostly due to the numerous ongoing drainage improvement works.
How are the problems of flash floods reduced?
Flash floods occur when the city’s drainage system is suddenly unable to withhold the large inflow of water. The flash floods around in Singapore that reach knee-high levels, show the magnitude of these monsoons and torrential rains.
The changing environmental landscape has made us more than unprepared for the unpredictable changes in our weather conditions. Singapore has had our fair share of volatile weather conditions that has provided us experience in dealing with these situations. However, this is currently still insufficient, as recent downpours and flash floods have demonstrated how our careful engineering and planning has yet to keep up with aggressively unpredictable conditions
Currently, Singapore has 7,000km of drains and canals that will direct rainwaters to the water bodies.
While we think that these flash floods are unprecedented problems that were not addressed sufficiently, you’ll be surprised to see the efforts by PUB over the years to alleviate this problem on their website.
Businesses affected
Indeed, flash floods can be very disruptive which is why as much as it seems like just a “transportation” hindrance to us, it is more than that normally. Many CNY businesses’ are experiencing what Straits Times called a “triple whammy”, resulting in lower turnouts that are severely affecting their business.
Precautionary measures
So before you think that all these flash floods are “not avoidable” and “sudden”, visit PUB’s website to see the interactive map to prevent your morning traffic angst.
There are interactive maps for you to check the flood status (just like how you check your PSI)
