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SINGAPORE – Heavy thunderstorms during the early hours of yesterday snarled traffic on two major roads in Singapore, as fallen trees obstructed vehicular movement.
On the Central Expressway near the Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 entrance, motorists were held up between 7.22am and 7.40am, while along Braddell Road, traffic was disrupted from 7.27am to 7.57am, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in The Straits Times (ST) today.
The slippery roads also resulted in a goods vehicle toppling over after its driver lost control along Lornie Road. This occurred around 4.20am, with two lanes towards Thomson Road blocked by the toppled vehicle.
The heavy thunderstorms, known as Sumatra squalls, also brought in heavy downpours and strong gusty winds over the weekend.
On Saturday, this resulted in a fallen tree along Jalan Anak Bukit towards the direction of the city. Traffic was disrupted from 12.41pm to 2.39pm, LTA said.
Seven roadside trees in Bedok, Bras Basah, MacPherson and West Coast were also uprooted over the weekend due to the thunderstorms, the National Environment Agency said in the report. The trees were cleared within an hour of being reported, the environmental body said.
Similar heavy thunderstorms are expected over the next fortnight, along with heavy afternoon showers, according to forecasts by the Meteorological Service.
The Sumatra squalls are eastward-moving lines of thunderstorms which can occur any time of the year, but happen regularly between the months of April and October, ST reported.
adrianl@sph.com.sg
Fell trees hit parked cars, block traffic
Click on thumbnail to view. (Photos: Wanbao, TNP) |
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