Trees across Singapore felled during thunderstorm

SINGAPORE – Strong winds amid a thunderstorm saw trees toppling in various parts of Singapore today (July 29), obstructing traffic in some areas and cutting off the entry to a car park in the north-east.

Callers told the MediaCorp hotline (6822 2268) that trees or branches had fallen at Pioneer Road, Punggol Drive, Rivervale Drive and Edgedale Plains.

Mr Nor Nizar sent photos showing a tree along Punggol Drive apparently broken midway along its stem. The fallen tree had blocked off access to the road leading to the car park at Blocks 637A to D and 638A to C. In another photo also provided by Mr Nor, it shows one lane at Edgedale Plains blocked off, though cars were still able to pass.

Another caller, Mdm Tan, said “six to seven trees” had fallen along Rivervale Drive, near Block 191A. She said pedestrians and cyclists were unable to use the pathway due to the obstructions following “a freak 15-minute storm”.

A third caller, Mr Jiang, said up to three lanes were obstructed along the Jalan Buroh and Pioneer Road stretch at Tuas, though the roads were still passable to traffic.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) had sent out an advisory on Twitter at 12.17pm, warning of “moderate to heavy thundery showers with gusty wind” over many parts of Singapore. The PUB also tweeted of high water levels at Tampines Road/Jalan Teliti briefly at around 1pm. CHANNEL NEWSASIA