Heaviest rainfall in decades hits metropolitan area of South Koreais turning Seoul's streets into traffic-choked rivers and flooding subway stations. At least nine people have died, some drowned in their homes, six are missing, and more rain is expected, officials said Tuesday.
More than 18 inches of rain were recorded Monday through Tuesday night in Seoul's hardest-hit Dongjak district. At some point Monday night, rainfall in the area topped 5.5 inches per hour. This was the largest hourly rainfall measured in Seoul since 1942.
Paramedics worked through the night to restore most subway service on Tuesday morning. A route linking towns north of Seoul was temporarily closed before reopening on Tuesday night after persistent rains flooded some stations.
Rising water levels and partial flooding have closed dozens of roads, including a major highway near the swollen Han River.
President Yoon Seok-yeol said at the government's emergency task force, "Heavy rains are expected to continue for many days...we need to remain vigilant and respond with all our might."
The military was ready to deploy troops to assist with recovery efforts if requested by cities or local governments, the Ministry of Defense said. spokesperson Moon Hong-sik said.
The rain started Monday morning and picked up in the evening.
By nightfall, people were walking through thigh-high water on the streets of Gangnam, one of Seoul's busiest business and leisure districts. Commuters were evacuated as water cascaded down the stairs of the Isu subway station. In the nearby city of Seongnam, a rain-weakened hillside collapsed into a college football field.
Rescuers called for help before drowning her three (two sisters in their 40s) and her 13-year-old girl) could not be reached. An underground house in Gwanak District, south of Seoul, on Monday night. Another woman drowned at her home in the nearby Dongjak district. She is believed to have been electrocuted while a civil servant was clearing a fallen tree. Dongjak District Office official Choi Sung-yeon said it was not immediately clear whether the cause of death was damage to the power supply or the equipment the man was using. In the nearby cities of Gwangju and Hwaseong, three bodies were found in landslide rubble and a collapsed bus stop.
Yoon's four people went missing in the Seocho district in southern Seoul, where his home is located. According to Yoon's office, Yoon was briefed on the phone overnight and spent hours issuing instructions. Nearly 800 buildings were damaged in the city and about 1,380 people were forced to flee their homes.
The country's Meteorological Agency issued a heavy rain warning for the Seoul metropolitan area and surrounding areas on Tuesday, saying some areas could receive 2 to 4 inches of rain per hour. . It said about four to 14 inches of additional rain is expected across the metropolitan area by Thursday.
Storms also hit North Korea, with officials issuing heavy rain warnings for southern and western North Korea. The North Korean Rodong Sinmun said the rains could be potentially devastating and called for measures to protect farmland and prevent flooding of the Taedong River, which flows through the capital Pyongyang.
- In:
- Weather Forecast
- South Korea
- North Korea
- Asia
- Traffic
- Floods
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