WHENEVER heavy rains and high tides hit the kampung in Lorong Buangkok, housewife Habsah Rohe, 60, gets flustered.
Her wooden house, next to a stream, is bound to be flooded.
'My house is also at the lowest level. So, water will flow down the slope, the stream will overflow. In half an hour, I'll be standing ankle-deep in water,' she said.
The widow, who lives with her two children, said she spent $3,000 to raise the floor in the kitchen area. Her late husband also erected zinc sheets along the stream's bank to keep water out.
'My kitchen is not flooded anymore. But my living room still does. So, I have to keep scooping water out,' said Madam Habsah.
But the flood threat has eased for some of the 20 families in the kampung off Yio Chu Kang Road - possibly the last outpost of laidback living here. It is one of the flood-prone areas listed by the PUB, where ground levels are below or barely above high tide level.
'Many years ago, water could rise as high as our ceiling,' said housewife Noraini Awe, 39, whose parents live there. 'Last week, there was heavy rain and high tide, but the water only reached ankle level.'
The PUB has deepened and widened the drain running through the kampung from 2m to 5m and installed safety railings. It also maintains the drain regularly.
'To completely eliminate flooding, the ground level in this low-lying area needs to be raised when the area is redeveloped,' it said. Housewife Zaiton Abu Samad, 54, said water did not enter her home this time around. She had wrapped her stereo speakers with plastic in anticipation of the year-end floods.
The PUB said in a statement that this year it has reduced flood-prone areas by 9ha - the equivalent of 15 football fields - mainly along International Road, Braddell Road, and areas near Alexandra canal at Stirling Road and Strathmore Avenue. Drainage improvements include widening and deepening small drains.
The PUB's efforts since the 1970s have reduced flood-prone areas from 3,200ha then to just 130ha now.
Even fewer areas will be prone to floods once the Marina Barrage, a dam being built across Marina Bay to create a new reservoir, is ready next year, said the PUB. Flash floods can occur when an area is hit by intense rainfall and storm water cannot be discharged quickly enough into drains because of blockages.
'The quick-changing weather these days can lead to such flash floods which are expected to be rare and of short duration,' said the PUB's director of catchment and waterways Tan Nguan Sen.
According to the National Environment Agency (NEA) meteorological services division, generally wet weather can be expected, with widespread intermittent rain on one to three days, during the first fortnight of this month.
During the next fortnight, expect weak to moderate north-east monsoon conditions to continue.
Advisories have been issued to 600 residents and shop owners in low-lying areas to warn them to take precautions during the monsoon season.
For the latest weather reports, call the NEA's meteorological services division on 6542-7788, or visit the NEA website at www.nea.gov.sg
Floods can still be expected in these areas: Chinatown/City area
Mosque Street Pagoda Street Temple Street Trengganu Street Upper Pickering Street (between South Bridge Road and New Bridge Road) South Bridge Road Upper Hokkien Street (between South Bridge Road and New Bridge Road) Chulia Street (beside UOB Plaza) Circular Road McCallum Street Boon Tat Link
Tanjong Katong area
Dakota Crescent
Meyer Place
Meyer Road
Dunman Road
Fort Road
Rose Lane
Stadium Road
Geylang area
Guillemard Road (between Lor 26 and 32 Geylang)
Lor 4 to Lor 22, Geylang
Lor 101 to 106, Changi Road
Langsat Road
Area off Jalan Besar
(between Weld Road and Kitchener Road)
Lorong Buangkok
arlina@sph.com.sg
