Eunos Crescent Market and Food Centre flooded on Saturday (Sept 6), with water accumulating both inside and outside hawker stalls. 

The incident happened around 6am, reported Lianhe Zaobao on Sept 6. 

It was suspected that the floods were caused by blocked pipes in the hawker centre's drainage system. 

15 hawkers were affected, with some complaining that their businesses were affected. 

The water receded by 10am and cleaners from the town council came to clear it up.

A hawker surnamed Cai, who owns a rice noodle stall, told the Chinese daily that the flood water was extremely dirty and smelly. 

She pointed out that many vendors and diners were elderly and if they slip, the consequences would be serious. 

"A similar situation happened last year," she said. 

She also lamented that Saturday mornings are usually her peak business hours but because of the floods, sales have dropped by 80 per cent. 

"Normally, there would be a queue outside the stall at this time, but now there are only a few customers. [Because of the floods] We let them wait outside and then we deliver the food to them. 

Another hawker called Naz said his stall usually opens at 10am and he starts getting ready for business three hours earlier. 

"Because of the flooding, I couldn't cook in the stall and ended up opening at 12pm," he told the Chinese daily. 

Naz added that he had an order placed for 100 packets of food but thankfully, this was only for 3pm so he still had enough time to prepare these. 

He shared that he expected to lose around $500 to $600 in sales. 

Similar to Cai, Naz noted that Eunos Crescent Market and Food Centre has always had flooding issues, especially after heavy rains. 

"Sometimes it isn't so serious but sometimes, it will affect business," he said.

[[nid:711363]]

melissateo@asiaone.com