For the third consecutive day, South Korea has been battered by heavy rains, resulting in the tragic loss of at least four lives, displacement of thousands, and widespread damage to property and infrastructure.
Warnings for torrential rainfall continued to remain in place across large parts of South Korea’s western and southern regions, as the weather department urged the public to exercise utmost caution. Authorities have also flagged the heightened risk of landslides and flash floods, which are likely to persist through Saturday.
Over 5,000 people were compelled to evacuate their homes due to the relentless downpour. However, as per the latest update provided by the Interior and Safety Ministry, the number of individuals currently taking refuge in temporary shelters had come down to 3,297 by 11 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Record-Breaking Rainfall
Rainfall of more than 400 millimetres (16 inches) hit some southern regions, including the city of Gwangju, in the 24 hours to early Friday, the ministry said.
Thursday’s downpour in Gwangju was the highest daily total for 86 years.
Four people have died in the rains and two were missing, the ministry said. Two were trapped in cars on flooded roads and another died in a basement under flood water in the central South Chungcheong province, it said.
A driver was killed after a 10-metre-high (33 ft) roadside wall collapsed on top of a moving vehicle on Wednesday in Osan, some 44 kilometres (27 miles) south of Seoul, fire agency officials said.
President Lee Urges Stronger Govt. Role
President Lee Jae Myung has called for a stronger government role in disaster prevention and response, saying that while natural disasters are hard to prevent, more can be done to anticipate damage and warn the public.
“I see there were cases where casualties occurred because of a poor response when the situation was reasonably predictable,” he said at an emergency meeting on the weather on Friday, calling for all available resources to be deployed.
(With inputs from Reuters)
