<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Fence collapses onto house in heavy rain
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Huang Huifen
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Dr Chacha pointing to the metal fence that had fallen onto his roof. Heavy rain in the Kheam Hock Road area also damaged his neighbour's house. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Houseowner Pesi B. Chacha had an unlikely 'visitor' drop in at his swimming pool yesterday.
It was a section of a metal fence demarcating a construction site behind his bungalow. It toppled after heavy rain lashed the Kheam Hock Road area in Bukit Timah.
The fence also broke a garden lamp and hit the roof of the house.
Dr Chacha, 70, was reading in his bedroom when he heard a loud crash at about 3.30pm.
'I knew something must have happened at the back. When I saw the scene, I was at a loss for words,' said the orthopaedic surgeon, who lives in the house with his 69-year-old wife and a maid.
After the initial shock, he alerted the authorities and The Sunday Times.
The heavy rain also caused damage to the bungalow next door.
There, a brick wall buckled under the weight of sliding earth. Mrs Chacha alerted neighbour Suresh Devi, 61, about the landslide.
'I was shocked to see my collapsed wall,' said Ms Devi, a former teacher who was asleep at the time.
Both houses are about a few metres below the construction site, which used to house the Hillpark condo. It was demolished earlier this month.
When The Sunday Times arrived at 4.30pm, two policemen were at the scene and contractors from TKC Builders were inspecting the damage.
The Chachas' acquaintance, structural engineer Mak Peng Nan, 52, said the landslide would not affect the safety of the house.
The contractors started to clear the debris and stabilise the slope at 5.30pm.
A temporary fence was put up at the Chachas' house. Repairs will take two weeks.
Elsewhere yesterday, the heavy downpour also uprooted trees, which fell on two cars at the Ridout Tea Garden carpark in Queensway.
Afternoon showers can be expected over the next three days, said the Meteorological Services Division of the National Environment Agency.
A warning will be issued on its website when rainfall exceeds 25mm per hour. One was issued between 3.20pm and 4.50pm yesterday.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Huang Huifen
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Dr Chacha pointing to the metal fence that had fallen onto his roof. Heavy rain in the Kheam Hock Road area also damaged his neighbour's house. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Houseowner Pesi B. Chacha had an unlikely 'visitor' drop in at his swimming pool yesterday.
It was a section of a metal fence demarcating a construction site behind his bungalow. It toppled after heavy rain lashed the Kheam Hock Road area in Bukit Timah.
The fence also broke a garden lamp and hit the roof of the house.
Dr Chacha, 70, was reading in his bedroom when he heard a loud crash at about 3.30pm.
'I knew something must have happened at the back. When I saw the scene, I was at a loss for words,' said the orthopaedic surgeon, who lives in the house with his 69-year-old wife and a maid.
After the initial shock, he alerted the authorities and The Sunday Times.
The heavy rain also caused damage to the bungalow next door.
There, a brick wall buckled under the weight of sliding earth. Mrs Chacha alerted neighbour Suresh Devi, 61, about the landslide.
'I was shocked to see my collapsed wall,' said Ms Devi, a former teacher who was asleep at the time.
Both houses are about a few metres below the construction site, which used to house the Hillpark condo. It was demolished earlier this month.
When The Sunday Times arrived at 4.30pm, two policemen were at the scene and contractors from TKC Builders were inspecting the damage.
The Chachas' acquaintance, structural engineer Mak Peng Nan, 52, said the landslide would not affect the safety of the house.
The contractors started to clear the debris and stabilise the slope at 5.30pm.
A temporary fence was put up at the Chachas' house. Repairs will take two weeks.
Elsewhere yesterday, the heavy downpour also uprooted trees, which fell on two cars at the Ridout Tea Garden carpark in Queensway.
Afternoon showers can be expected over the next three days, said the Meteorological Services Division of the National Environment Agency.
A warning will be issued on its website when rainfall exceeds 25mm per hour. One was issued between 3.20pm and 4.50pm yesterday.
