Seoul, July 17
Two people have died and about 1,000 residents were evacuated as torrential rains slammed parts of the nation's central regions, authorities said on Thursday, as they warned of more downpours in the coming days.
As a rain front showed signs of moving northward, the government's disaster response authorities put the Chungcheong provinces and southern part of Gyeonggi Province on the second-highest alert level.
On Wednesday, a retaining wall collapsed onto a moving vehicle in the city of Osan, 52 kilometres south of Seoul, killing the driver.
In Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, a man was found in cardiac arrest inside a flooded vehicle on a road at around 3:59 a.m. Thursday and was transported to a nearby hospital but died.
Two minor injuries, including hypothermia, were also reported in Seosan and Buyeo.
Since Wednesday evening, as much as 344 mm of rain has fallen in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, the hardest-hit area, according to weather officials.
In Seosan, 114.9 mm of rain fell in just one hour between 1:46 a.m. and 2:46 a.m., recording the highest hourly rainfall for July since observations began there in 1968.
Heavy rain triggered a landslide in Cheongyang, South Chungcheong Province, leaving two residents briefly trapped before being rescued.
Fire authorities said the two were transported to a nearby hospital. They reportedly sustained leg injuries but were not in any life-threatening conditions.
In the city of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, 67.4 mm of rain fell per hour, marking the second-highest rainfall.
As of 7 a.m. Thursday, 26 emergency text alerts for heavy rain were issued nationwide via mobile phones, among which 25 were for the Chungcheong area.
The KMA issues such alerts when hourly rainfall exceeds 50 mm and three-hour cumulative rainfall tops 90 mm, or when one-hour rainfall alone surpasses 72 mm, Yonhap news agency reported.
More rain is expected to pound the country until Saturday.
Around 50 to 150 mm of rain is expected in the greater Seoul area and Chungcheong Province, 30 to 100 mm in North Jeolla Province, and 20 to 80 mm in Gwangju and South Jeolla Provinces until Friday.
The southern regions are also forecast to receive heavy rainfall starting Friday, with areas like Ulsan and Busan expected to experience between 100 to 200 mm of rain.
- IANS
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