Flash Flood In Orchard Road!

[Limsgp]

Sudden flood is caused by sudden continuous heavy rain, and rain is outside of human control(in general).

If that area everyday or every month or every year flood, then you can question about the "incapabilities of the drainage system" and find someone to be liable. But for such unforeseeable flooding, can't really blame anyone.. unless there is evident that the drainage system is supposingly capable of handling it but "someone" cause malfunctioning of the drainage system. then maybe someone could be liable.

sorry ah... i thought flood is a result of heavy rain no? so how can it be an act of God? and why flooding occurs probably it's due to the incapabilities of the drainage system to handle such high volume of water no? sorry again... i want to just clarify whether flooding is considered an act of God.

 

[anttz]

ok... that's one way of seeing things. still need clarifications so the insurance companies don't screw us over.

btw, it's 'Tort' and not 'Tout'

What ins co will be going after is the proximate cause. In this case proximate cause is heavy rain which resulted in flooding. Drainage blockage is secondary in this case. Again different co different policy wording. Some will state clearly Fire, EQ, Typhoon, Flood etc is cover. Some may state All Risk cover. Beside looking at what is covered you need to look at the list of exclusions.

Hope the above clarify.

 

[Kit]

Sudden flood is caused by sudden continuous heavy rain, and rain is outside of human control(in general).

If that area everyday or every month or every year flood, then you can question about the "incapabilities of the drainage system" and find someone to be liable. But for such unforeseeable flooding, can't really blame anyone.. unless there is evident that the drainage system is supposingly capable of handling it but "someone" cause malfunctioning of the drainage system. then maybe someone could be liable.

Yes. Its not whenever something happens, someone would be at fault automatically.

Well, finger pointing culture.....

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Well, finger pointing culture.....

Clubsnap have our very own residential finger pointer too. :bsmilie:

 

[ManWearPants]

Why nobody thinks Singapore is sinking?

 

[eyes]

Why nobody thinks Singapore is sinking?

Hahaha... I think 9V-Orion's got an answer. I'm actually waiting for WR104 to wipe us out soon. :bsmilie:

 

[zelot]

Most modern building basement design incorporated a heavy duty waterpump to prevent flooding & especially for catastrophic event of biblical magnitute such as this hence you dun see the MRT get flooded but not sure some of these very old building in Orchard road

:nono:
That's not why the Orchard mrt station did not get flooded with water.
It is because mrt stations must be built with flood resistance in mind.

The height of the entrance to the mrt station is all built 1m above the highest recorded flood height of that particular area. This is their first line of defence against flash floods or floods.

 

[egnaro]

The height of the entrance to the mrt station is all built 1m above the highest recorded flood height of that particular area. This is their first line of defence against flash floods or floods.

and that is the reason why Lucky Plaza B1 got flooded! They didnt consult SMRT engineer!

 

[aryanto]

and that is the reason why Lucky Plaza B1 got flooded! They didnt consult SMRT engineer!

Actually their fault is that they are build first.
ION is just recently built and of course you can see that they are purposely built higher.
If you notice this is the practice in Indonesia, esp places that experience flash flood regularly such as Jakarta. New build up area is always piled up so that the area forms a hill, higher than surrounding place so it wont be flooded.
"Kelapa gading" was an old area which was built in late 1980's. It was not flooded until recently.
The same way as orchard. Previous site of ION used to be lower ground and absorbs the "flooding", now it is concrete, higher, and water automatically seek lower ground. Where? Lucky plaza, and surrounding area next to wheelock place

 

[Kit]

and that is the reason why Lucky Plaza B1 got flooded! They didnt consult SMRT engineer!

Well, when they built Lucky Plaza there wasn't any MRT engineers around for them to consult.

 

[oeyvind]

NTUC Income got a full page advert today - they cover such event. Very smart move as this kind of event is supposed to come only once every 50years based on the kind of statistics from PUB as echoed by the Minister.

My next car insurance - I will switch to Income. :think:

The pix is OFF fickr.... wonder if the person who took the pix gave NTUC permission to use!

 

[DrSpock]

:nono:
That's not why the Orchard mrt station did not get flooded with water.
It is because mrt stations must be built with flood resistance in mind.

The height of the entrance to the mrt station is all built 1m above the highest recorded flood height of that particular area. This is their first line of defence against flash floods or floods.

The past does not equal to future so who's to say past highest recorded flood height will not be compromised in the future? 1st line of defence is usually the cheapest most practical means to mitigate the problem such as these so called elevated entrances. There are secondary defences that will kick in if this 1st line fail.

and that is the reason why Lucky Plaza B1 got flooded! They didnt consult SMRT engineer!

Unfortunately I believe many oldie buildings along Orchard were built way b4 the SMRT was conceived but still they could hv done some preventive measures but ultimately it is a commercial decision. Just like the fact that every new housing unit built nowadays must incorporate a Home shelter in the design but how many old houses does not have this? What does this mean? SG is safe or what?:dunno:

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Hahaha... I think 9V-Orion's got an answer. I'm actually waiting for WR104 to wipe us out soon. :bsmilie:

The risk of a global Extinction-Level Event (ELE) caused by a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) from WR 104 had since be significantly downgraded, the chance of 99942 Apophis impacting with Earth on the 13th of April 2036 is higher. ;p

 

[DrSpock]

The risk of a global Extinction-Level Event (ELE) caused by a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) from WR 104 had since be significantly downgraded, the chance of 99942 Apophis impacting with Earth on the 13th of April 2036 is higher. ;p

Don't worry lah, By then NASA/Taikonaut/Cosmonaut/Nipponaut/Euronaut/Indianaut will join forces to fly Friendship 1 & 2 to send a electron bomb to distintegrate Apophis so better start training the drillers now!

 

[2evans]

SINGAPORE : A choked drain caused the massive flooding in Orchard Road on Wednesday.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1063889/1/.html

 

[mohgui]

SINGAPORE : A choked drain caused the massive flooding in Orchard Road on Wednesday.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1063889/1/.html

choked drain... hmmm, who's to be blamed now?

 

[xhui]

URA point at PUB > contractors > RAIN LOH!

 

[La Fontaine]

SINGAPORE : A choked drain caused the massive flooding in Orchard Road on Wednesday.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1063889/1/.html

choked drain... hmmm, who's to be blamed now?

Now, I dun buy this kind of explanation - doesn't sound convincing to me at all.

I know a little bit more about these longkang than the average Joe.

In and around the Orchard Rd area, all the road side drains, monsoon drains, culverts, canals are all covered. That means that you cannot have any big branches, coconut leaves, banana leaves or any other big objects falling into the drains. Only leaves, small bottles, twigs or other small sized litter might be able to get into those drains.

Now, all types of drains are designed to be self-cleaning - that means that during a heavy downpour, the speed of the water flow would be able to push all the debris along the drain all the way to the huge canal and to the reservoir/sea.

Drains could only get stuck if there are huge branches, large pieces of timber, bricks, stones, concrete/cement that got harden in the drain. Such debris could only come from construction sites or renovation sites. Apparently, PUB didn't blame it on any contractor.

Still puzzled as to what is the Root Cause of this freak phenomenon.

 

[xhui]

But PUB did say their frequency of checking of the drains and canals for blockage is 3 months.. Guess it's a combination of the sudden high amount of water rushing in (within a short span of interval) and the debris collecting. Was almost a scene waiting to happen. Now everyone's asking who is going to pay.

 

[mohgui]

Now, I dun buy this kind of explanation - doesn't sound convincing to me at all.

I know a little bit more about these longkang than the average Joe.

In and around the Orchard Rd area, all the road side drains, monsoon drains, culverts, canals are all covered. That means that you cannot have any big branches, coconut leaves, banana leaves or any other big objects falling into the drains. Only leaves, small bottles, twigs or other small sized litter might be able to get into those drains.

Now, all types of drains are designed to be self-cleaning - that means that during a heavy downpour, the speed of the water flow would be able to push all the debris along the drain all the way to the huge canal and to the reservoir/sea.

Drains could only get stuck if there are huge branches, large pieces of timber, bricks, stones, concrete/cement that got harden in the drain. Such debris could only come from construction sites or renovation sites. Apparently, PUB didn't blame it on any contractor.

Still puzzled as to what is the Root Cause of this freak phenomenon.

this is the most logical reason the authorities could put the blame on and the average joes will find it convincing enough. so they will just brush it off as someone didn't do a good job in cleaning the drains.

but for the more advanced thinker... there could be some other reasons and the choked drain explanation is just a cover up. a conspiracy theory perhaps? :sweat: