2 cars trapped in Woodlands due to flash flood, Sembawang canal overflowed

December has historically been one of the wettest months of the year in Singapore.

The heavy downpours in recent days have resulted in flash floods in the northern part of the island.

Flash flood in Woodlands

A flash flood was observed along Woodlands Avenue 10 on Nov. 22, where a 100m or so section of the road was affected, Shin Min Daily News reported.

At one point, the water level reportedly reached 30cm high.

Two cars trapped due to flood

But that was apparently not the worst case of flooding that day.

Two cars, a BMW and a Honda, were reportedly trapped as the water level reached the door handle level.

The BMW owner, a 74-year-old motorist, surnamed Lin (transliteration), said the rain affected visibility, causing her to misjudge the water level.

"I saw that the outside of the car was full of water. I didn't dare to open the door. I waited for the water to recede before I got out of the car," she said.

According to Shin Min, the water level receded at about 4pm, and many broken branches and leaves were seen left on the road.

Traffic police and PUB personnel were at the scene.

The road to Admiralty Road West was also reportedly completely blocked.

PUB told Mothership it immediately deployed its quick response team to provide assistance to motorists and investigate the flooding incident near the junction of Woodlands Avenue 10 and Admiralty Road West.

Flood caused Sembawang canal to overflow

A video showing the severity of the flood situation in the northern part of Singapore also made the rounds on social media.

One video showed floodwaters overflowing a river canal in front of the Sembawang God of Wealth Temple.

The Sembawang God of Wealth Temple is located near Woodlands Avenue 10.

What video showed

The video also showed the waters reaching the height of the seats at a bus stop.

It also almost submerged the green railings around the river canal.

The water also completely covered the streets, making it impossible to distinguish the sidewalk and the road.

PUB told Mothership that the intense rainfall had temporarily overwhelmed the roadside drains along Woodlands Avenue 10 and the adjacent canal, Sungei Sembawang, which leads to the sea and is subject to tidal influence.

The overflowing of drains and Sungei Sembawang coincided with the high tide of 2.7m, which prolonged the flooding.

Flash flood warnings

PUB issued numerous flash flood risk warnings across the island amid the heavy Friday afternoon rain.

Flood risk warnings were issued for 19 locations across Singapore.

It was noted that northern Singapore recorded the heaviest rainfall of 127.7mm from 2:15pm to 4:50pm, which is equivalent to 51 per cent of the country's average monthly rainfall in November.

PUB said the onset of the northeast monsoon may cause moderate to heavy showers in the afternoons on most days.

Such intense rainfall may briefly "overwhelm" canals and drains, leading to localised flash floods.

However, these flash floods usually last an hour.

Members of the public may use the MyENV application and subscribe to PUB's Flood Alerts Telegram Channel to receive heavy rain alerts and flood risk warnings.

Top image via Lianhe Zaobao and Raven Qiu, Complaint Singapore/Facebook