SINGAPORE — Heavy rain caused flash floods across several parts of Singapore on Tuesday (Aug 24) morning as rainfall closed in on record highs.

In a Facebook post, national water agency PUB said that flash floods occurred along Dunearn Road between Sime Darby Centre and Binjai Park, causing roads to be impassable.

The floods there happened at 10.08am before subsiding around 10.50am.

PUB said in a separate Facebook post that its quick response teams were activated to close a portion of the road and divert traffic.

The western area of Singapore recorded the highest rainfall on Tuesday morning.

From 7.50am to 10.40am, the rainfall station at Bukit Panjang Road recorded 159.8mm of rain, the agency said. 

“This corresponds to 109 per cent of Singapore's average monthly rainfall in August.”

The rainfall recorded on Bukit Panjang Road was within the top 0.5 per cent of the maximum rainfall registered in Singapore in a single day since 1981, it added.

Member of Parliament (MP) Sim Ann said that she received many photos from residents and volunteers of the flooding, including on Bukit Timah Road near King Albert Park, Eng Kong and Toh Yi. Ms Sim is MP for Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency, which covers the area around Dunearn Road.

“Whether you’re driving or walking, please be careful,” she wrote in a Facebook post sharing these photos.

Videos circulating on social media on Tuesday showed flooded roads and bus stops in other areas across the island, such as at Cashew Road and Jurong Gateway Road.

Around 9.45am, PUB issued flood risk warnings at four locations where water levels in the drains and canals reached 90 per cent, urging commuters to avoid these areas for the next hour.

They were:

• Upper Bukit Timah Road from Hazel Park Terrace to Chestnut Drive

• Woodlands Road exit on the Kranji Expressway

• Sime Darby Centre 

• Sunset Drive and Sunset Way

Last Friday, five people had to be rescued from partially submerged vehicles after heavy rain in the morning similarly triggered a flash flood near furniture store Ikea Tampines.

Thirteen vehicles were found stationary and partially submerged in water when Singapore Civil Defence Force crew arrived at the junction of Tampines Avenue 10 and Pasir Ris Drive 12.

PUB said then that it was investigating the cause of the flood to determine if there were any construction works nearby that had affected the drains or obstructed the drainage flow of the storm water.