Rain pours into Tampines Mall

SINGAPORE – The sudden heavy downpour this afternoon (Dec 7) caused some sections of Tampines Mall to flood as inlets meant to channel rainwater collected from the mall's roof top to external drainage could not cope with the excess rainwater. 

"The unusually heavy amount of rainfall over a short period of time caused rainwater to overflow from our rainwater inlets and some excess water flowed to a small part of the common areas on Levels 2 and 3 of our mall," said Ms Sarah Lua, Marketing Communications Manager – Tampines Mall, in response to queries. 

Ms Lua said the mall's staff noticed the "overflow of water" at sections of level 2 of the mall at about 3.10pm. "We immediately cordoned off the affected areas and redirected shoppers away.  We mobilised our staff to mop up the floor and put dryers in the common areas.  No one was hurt in the incident, although the overflowed rainwater affected several of our tenants," she said.

Tampines Mall resumed full operations at about 4.25pm after the mall was cleaned up. "We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to our affected tenants and shoppers, and are putting steps in place to prevent a recurrence," said Ms Lua.

Pictures shared on social media showed rain pouring in from the roof of the outdoor area of the mall, while large puddles of water were seen inside the mall. Twitter user @wongyuetying said the rain had been "very heavy". 

A MediaCorp hotline caller, Ms Chow May Kee, 44, said she was at the SingTel shop at about 3pm, when she noticed water on the second floor. It was coming from a staircase besides Giordano, and staff were clearing the water away with a broom. 

Some people who were at Tampines Mall also shared the incident on Twitter:

View the story "Rain pours in from Tampines Mall ceiling" on Storify]