Floods occur very often in Singapore and they are usually caused by a combination of heavy rainfall, high tides and drainage problems, especially in low-lying areas. More often than not, the floods that affect Singapore are flash floods and they only last for a few hours . Even though most floods cause only minor inconveniences, several major floods has also hit Singapore before. These floods have led to destruction of infrastructure and loss of lives. We chose this topic as Orchard Road is an area that many people frequent, especially tourists. The volume of people in Orchard Road is extremely high and thus floods in this specific area will have a large impact.
What is a flash flood? A flash flood is a sudden, localized flood of great volume and short duration usually caused by heavy rain. One of the reasons why flash floods occur in Orchard is partly because of the unique topography of Orchard road, in which it is surrounded by hills and is essentially a valley, but also due to increasing and more intense rainfall in the recent years. A recent analysis by the Meteorological Service Singapore (2012) shows that rainfall in Singapore has been more intense over the past 30 years.
History Of Floods in Orchard, Singapore
1980s In, 1980, 1984 and 1985 several major floods occurred . In January 1980, after two days of continuous rain, parts of Singapore, including Orchard were submerged under water levels of 1.3m . The Orchard area was the most badly hit when the water level rose to 60 cm. There were reportedly 10 floods between 2 February and 27 May 1984.
Thundery showers in 1985 caused flooding and traffic jams in many areas, including Orchard. Heavy rain and strong winds resulted in trees being uprooted in Orchard area.
Floods were generally under control in the late 1980s and 1990s when various flood control measures were put in place. These include the construction of diversion canals in flood prone areas and increasing drainage in new housing estates.
2000s In 2010 and 2011, flash floods in Orchard caused huge damages to property there.
In 16 June 2010, thunderstorms resulted in flash floods in Orchard Road. Rainwater flowed into the basements of several buildings, like Liat Towers, Lucky Plaza, Tong Building and Delfi Orchard. The affected businesses such as fast food restaurants like Wendys, food courts and cafes, where they suffered damage to infrastructure and heavy losses of equipment. More than 100 mm of rain fell within a two-hour period of extremely heavy rain , reported by the National Environment Agency (NEA). The PUB credited the floods to clogged drains at canals which were meant to clear water away from Orchard Road.The PUB also found that another reason for the flooding was due to a storm that traveled along the Stamford canal which overflowed.
In June 2011, pummelling rain again led to extremely severe flooding in Orchard area. This time, Lucky Plaza and Liat Towers were not affected due to the flood barriers that were activated prior to the flood. However, Tanglin Mall, St Regis and Traders Hotel were affected. They claimed that they did not receive flood alerts from the PUB because of a technical problem in the flood alert system. PUB also said that flooding was due to heavy rain that fell directly into the basements of these places. As a result, the buildings' internal drainage pumps were not able to cope with the huge amounts of water. Also, There was intense rain directly over the Stamford Canal and thus there was not enough time for complete drainage.
In December 2011, sustained heavy downpour caused another flash flood, affecting the open area of Liat Towers, the basement of Lucky Plaza and the underpass that linked Ngee Ann City and Lucky Plaza. PUB said that the rain was extremely intense (152.8mm of rain) Between 2pm to 5pm that day, about 153mm of rain fell on Orchard road. Many cars were immersed in wheel-high waters and floodwaters accumulated in shops that were located below road level. For 2011 in general, the stretch of road affected in 2010 was not affected as PUB had substiantially finished raising that stretch of road.
2010 Orchard Road Flood (Photo by 2sg.org)
2010 Orchard Road Flood. Cars submerged in water. (Photo by NTU)
2011 June Orchard Road Flood. Tanglin Mall affected. (Photo by singapore-lighthouse.blogspot.com)
Lucky Plaza affected in 2010. (photo by spicy-mother.com)