Singapore braces for future floods, explores hi-tech solutions to stem the tide

As PUB warns of another heavy rainfall this weekend, analysts say there is a need to balance between stronger flood protection and costs

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Rain clouds hover above the Marina Bay Sands hotels in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:51pm, 17 Jan 2025Updated: 7:34pm, 17 Jan 2025

Between December and January every year, the glitzy streets of Bukit Timah, one of Singapore’s most exclusive housing estates, can sometimes be flooded in murky brown water.

Last month, pictures circulated online of cars wading through wheel-high waters next to the Bukit Timah Canal, which has been undergoing construction over the past decade to deepen and widen it.

The non-stop rain last Friday and Saturday exceeded Singapore’s monthly average rainfall of 222.4mm in January, the national water agency PUB said. Changi, a town in the east of the city state, recorded the highest total amount of rainfall at 255.2mm across the two days, while temperatures dipped to 21.6 degrees Celsius in Newton.

As Singapore braces for another surge this weekend, with PUB warning of high tides and heavy rainfall expected from Friday to Sunday, climate analysts and environmental engineers This Week in Asia spoke to said that these flash floods would become more frequent despite vast efforts to prevent flooding.

“Because of climate change, the occurrence and intensity of extreme rainfall events, especially of short duration, are expected to increase, and the current drainage infrastructure will experience different conditions compared to the present.

“This, in combination with an increase in urbanisation and limited space available to enlarge channels and build dedicated retention basins or ponds in Singapore, poses challenges in managing flash floods in the future,” said Simone Fatichi, the deputy director of research at the Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Institute Singapore.