The day that the rains came down

Rain.  In Singapore. Not unheard of, you are thinking, and you would be right of course.  Singapore is pretty well set up for rain in fact, with storm drains all over the place and a number of big reservoirs to catch and keep the watery stuff.  So what happened last Wednesday to produce these pictures?



A flash flood, that's what, compounded by a blocked drain, apparently, resulting in complete havoc in parts of the city centre. Not only were the basement car parks flooded, but, as you can see from the photos, so were the streets. This photo shows the part of town near where we live - luckily, we are  on a bit of a hill, and on the 22nd floor, so no danger of getting the tootsies wet.  Apparently, almost 100 mm of rain fell within a two-hour period - more than half a month's worth, in the space of less than a morning.   


Spooky that it should happen once, but then it happened again this week.  First thing in the morning again (and I missed the whole thing, as I had gone in early to work). It was all quite dramatic, with fallen trees blocking roads and turning the morning commute into an obstacle course.  Singapore's water agency - the wonderfully named PUB -  recorded 100mm of rain in an hour this time, the same amount as the previous week, but in half the time.  I wasn't aware rain could fall that fast.