'Half of the house is covered with water': Pipe clog floods Ang Mo Kio flat, damages goods

An Ang Mo Kio resident was left frustrated at the state of her home after a pipe clog left it flooded and damaged some items she was preparing to sell.

In a video posted to Facebook last Thursday (May 9), user Lydia Lee Nakamura shows how the bathroom, kitchen and living room of her rental flat were flooded with water from a drain.

The flooding started late at night on Wednesday, which prompted her to call the Essential Maintenance Services Unit (EMSU) at Ang Mo Kio Town Council for assistance, she wrote.

When she mentioned that her flat was rented from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), however, she was told to contact another number instead, she said.

But when she did, no help arrived that night still, she added.

Her husband managed to stop the water flowing from the drain temporarily, but it started up again at about 6am the next morning and worsened about two hours later.

"My son dashed into my room and said half of the house is covered with water," she wrote.

Clogged pipe

In an update later that day, the woman said that personnel from the town council and a plumber came to clear the clogged pipe. They also helped clean the floor of the flat afterwards.

Although the issue was resolved, she said there was still "more cleaning to do" as the water had come out from the main pipe and would be "unclean".

The woman, who had recently given birth and said she was 20 days into her confinement, added that she had also sorted and stored some items to sell off. But half of her storage boxes had been damaged due to the flooding, which upset her further.

When contacted, the Ang Mo Kio Town Council referred AsiaOne to its comments on her Facebook post. 

The blockage, it said, was in the building's main pipe and stemmed from improper rubbish disposal into the toilet bowl by residents of units on the higher floors.

The town council added that it was actively working to prevent such incidents in the future through increased awareness and education, and seeks the understanding and co-operation of all residents.

AsiaOne has reached out to Lydia Lee Nakamura for more information.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com