Kyunghee Park
BloombergSingapore’s National Environment Agency issued a warning of heavy rain with thunder today, a week after downpours caused the worst flooding of the Orchard Road shopping district in 26 years.
Flash floods may occur in low-lying areas from the heavy rain and the public should exercise caution, the agency said on its website. There have been reports of floods in various parts of Singapore, including Upper Thomson Road, Jalan Boon Lay and Bukit Timah Road, Channel NewsAsia reported.
About 70 people were rescued from buses and cars on June 16 in the worst flooding of the shopping strip since 1984, while no injuries were reported. The basement of the Liat Towers building along Orchard Road was inundated, damaging goods in stores including RSH Ltd.’s Massimo Dutti and a Starbuck Corp. outlet.
A tree fell outside the Orchard Road area, blocking three of the five lanes and no flood was reported in the district, according to the Straits Times today.
During last week’s flooding, almost 100 millimeters of rain fell in the morning, more than 60 percent of the average monthly rainfall for June, according to the national water agency. In the 140 years to 2008, total rainfall in the month of June averaged 162.2 millimeters.