Multiple regions in South Korea experienced heavy rainfall on the 16th and 17th, with the storms resulting in 4 deaths and over a thousand people evacuating dangerous areas. On the 17th, South Korea’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters elevated the emergency response alert to the 'severe' level.
It is common for Korea to experience monsoon rains in July, but official meteorological data shows that three areas in South Chungcheong Province recorded some of the highest hourly precipitation on record this week.
Officials from the Korea Meteorological Administration told AFP that rainfall in the western part of Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, reached as much as 114.9 millimeters per hour. “Such rainfall is usually seen only once in a hundred years.”
Officials stated that this was the highest recorded rainfall since complete records began in 1904.
According to Yonhap News, on the 17th, some roads and residences in Seosan and Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, were flooded, resulting in 3 people drowning. In addition, on the afternoon of the previous day, a retaining wall on an overpass in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, collapsed due to heavy rain, burying two vehicles and resulting in one death.
Weather forecasts predict that this round of rainfall will continue until the 19th.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters stated that the government would mobilize all available resources to deal with the heavy rainfall, reminding people to reduce going outdoors during heavy rain and to stay away from low-lying areas, rivers, streams, and areas at risk of landslides.