At least eight people have died in and around Seoul, the capital of South Korea, over the course of the past night as a result of the torrential rain that caused power outages, landslides, and the flooding of roads and subways.
Seoul Heavy Rain Live Update
Authorities said on Tuesday that at least eight people perished in and around Seoul, the capital of South Korea, overnight as a result of torrential rain that also triggered landslides, power outages, and swamped highways and subways.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Seoul’s southern region experienced the heaviest rain in decades late on Monday, with certain areas of the city receiving 141.5mm of rain at a rate of more than 100mm (3.9 inches) per hour (KMA).
As of 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Seoul had received 451mm of rain since midnight on Monday, and more rain is expected.
In the opulent, crowded Gangnam district, various buildings and stores were inundated, without power, and surrounded by swamped automobiles, buses, and subway stations that left many trapped.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters reported that by early Tuesday, at least five individuals had passed away in Seoul and three more in the nearby Gyeonggi Province.
Deaths and damages caused by Record rain in seoul
According to the report, four people perished in flooded buildings, one is thought to have been electrocuted, another was discovered underneath a bus stop, and the other two perished in a landslide.
Seven persons are missing, and there were at least nine injuries.
According to data, 52 highways and roads have been stopped, and at least 765 infrastructure have been damaged. According to the data, there were roughly 391 casualties in the greater Seoul area, the majority of them had to remain at nearby gyms and schools, and another 399 who were temporarily relocated to community centres and schools.
The headquarters increased the level of crisis alert and asked organisations to modify their operating hours.
The 26 million-person metropolitan area surrounding the capital, as well as portions of Gangwon and Chungcheong Province, all received heavy rain warnings from the KMA.
According to the disaster headquarters, President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over a meeting on emergency response and directed officials to concentrate on preventing casualties and swiftly managing and recovering flooded areas.
The KMA anticipates that the country’s central region will continue to see severe precipitation at least until Wednesday.
The rainfall turning the streets of Seoul’s Gangnam district into rivers
Rainfall turned the wealthy Gangnam neighbourhood of Seoul’s streets into rivers, submerging cars and overtaxing the city’s public transportation infrastructure.
After emergency services worked through the night to clear up much of the mess, commuters began cautiously returning to work on Tuesday morning. However, there were worries about additional damage as torrential rain was predicted for the second straight day.
Numerous roads and parking lots along riversides were closed because of safety concerns, even though the majority of the subway systems in the Seoul metropolitan region were returning to normal operations.
President Yoon Suk Yeol statement about Seoul Heavy Rain
President Yoon Suk Yeol encouraged swift action to repair damaged facilities and evacuate individuals in risk regions in order to stop more deaths. He also called on both public and private employers to modify their commute times.
In response to a request from local or regional governments, the military was ready to send troops to assist with recovery work, according to Moon Hong-sik, spokeswoman for Seoul’s Defence Ministry.
On Monday morning, it started to rain harder, and it continued throughout the evening. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, at least 790 people had to leave their houses while nearly 800 buildings in Seoul and adjacent areas sustained damage.
In the streets near the Gangnam metro station, one of Seoul’s busiest business and entertainment districts, where passenger cars, taxis, and buses were stranded in mud-brown waters, people could be seen wading through knee-high water on Monday night.
As water fell like a waterfall down the stairs of the Isu metro station, commuters fled. A rain-weakened mountainside toppled into a university football field in the neighbouring city of Seongnam.
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Three people yelled for assistance before drowning in a basement residence in the Gwanak area of southern Seoul on Monday night, but rescuers were unable to reach them.
Heavy rainfall is expected to continue
“The severe downpour is predicted to last for days… During a Tuesday visit to the government’s emergency headquarters in Seoul, Mr. Yoon said, “We need to retain our sense of alertness and respond with all of our might.
He instructed officials to focus on decreasing the risks posed by already damaged roads and infrastructure as well as regions at risk of flooding or landslides.
The Dongjak area of Seoul, which was severely impacted, recorded more than 43cm (17in) of rain between Monday and Tuesday midday.
This location experienced the highest hourly deluge recorded in Seoul since 1942 on Monday night, with precipitation exceeding 14 cm (5.5 in) at one point.
North Korea was also hit by downpours, and the government there issued heavy rain advisories for the country’s southwest and south.
The official newspaper of the North, Rodong Sinmun, asked for action to safeguard agriculture and stop flooding on the Taedong River, which runs through Pyongyang, calling the rain possibly “disastrous.”
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