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Rains in South Korea turn Seoul’s roads to rivers and leave 8 dead : NPR


A vehicle is submerged in a flooded road in Seoul, Monday, August 8, 2022.

Hwang Kwang-mo / AP


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A vehicle is submerged in a flooded road in Seoul, Monday, August 8, 2022.

Hwang Kwang-mo / AP

SEOUL, South Korea – Some of the heaviest rains in decades have hit South Korea’s capital region, turning Seoul’s streets into car-clogged rivers and flooding subway stations. . At least eight people have died – some from drowning in their homes – and seven others are missing, while more rain is forecast.

Cars and buses were wrecked across the streets as the water receded on Tuesday as workers cleared trees, mud and debris with excavators and blocked damaged roads and sidewalks. Landslide warnings have been issued in nearly 50 cities and towns, while 160 hiking trails in Seoul and the mountainous province of Gangwon have been closed.

“Heavy rainfall is expected to continue for many days…we need to maintain vigilance and respond with all our might,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said at the government’s emergency headquarters. government. He directed officials to pay attention to areas prone to landslides or flooding and reduce the danger of damaged roads and facilities to prevent more deaths.

Most of Seoul’s subway services have resumed normal operations, but dozens of roads have been closed due to safety concerns. Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Hong-sik said the military was ready to deploy troops to support recovery efforts if required by cities or regional governments.

The rain started Monday morning and gradually increased into the evening.

As night falls, people wade through thigh-deep water on the streets of Gangnam, one of Seoul’s busiest business and entertainment districts, where cars and buses get stuck in the brown water. like mud. Commuters evacuate as water falls down the stairs of Isu subway station like a waterfall. In the nearby city of Seongnam, a hillside due to waning rain collapsed onto a university football field.

Rescuers were unable to reach three people – two sisters in their 40s and a 13-year-old girl – who cried out for help before drowning in a basement house in the Gwanak district, southern Seoul, late in the evening. Monday. Another woman drowned at her home in nearby Dongjak district, where a worker died while clearing a fallen tree, likely from electric shock. Choi Seon-yeong, an official with the Dongjak district office, said it was not immediately clear whether the water was electrified because of the damaged power supply or the equipment the man was using.

Three people were found dead in the rubble of a landslide and a bus stop collapsed in the nearby cities of Gwangju and Hwaseong.

A damaged vehicle on the road after drifting in heavy rain in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

Ahn Young-joon / AP


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A damaged vehicle on the road after drifting in heavy rain in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

Ahn Young-joon / AP

Four people went missing in the Seocho district south of Seoul, which is also the private residence of Yoon, who, according to his office, spent hours receiving briefings and giving instructions overnight in the rain. flooded several streets near his high ground. – apartment coordination.

Nearly 800 buildings in Seoul and surrounding cities were damaged while at least 790 people were forced to evacuate their homes, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said.

The country’s weather agency maintained a heavy rain warning for the Seoul metropolitan area and surrounding areas on Tuesday and said rainfall could reach 5 to 10 centimeters an hour (2 to 4 inches). in some areas. It said there will be about 10 to 35 centimeters (4 to 14 inches) of more rain across the capital region through the end of Thursday.

More than 43 centimeters (17 inches) of rain was measured in Seoul’s hardest-hit Dongjak district from Monday to Tuesday afternoon. Hourly rainfall in that area exceeded 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) at one point on Monday night, the heaviest hourly rain measured in Seoul since 1942.

Rainstorms also hit North Korea, where authorities issued heavy rain warnings for southern and western regions of the country. North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper described the downpour as “catastrophic” and called for measures to protect arable land and prevent flooding on the Taedong River, which flows through the capital Pyongyang.



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