The southern part of the national capital received more than 100 millimeters (3.9 inches) of rain per hour late Monday, with some parts of the city hit with 141.5 millimeters (4.9 inches), the heaviest in decades, according to the Met Office. of Korea (KMA). Accumulated rainfall in Seoul as of midnight Monday was 451 millimeters as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, with more forecast. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday visited a semi-basement apartment where three family members had died the night before after floodwaters filled the space. The dangers of such underground apartments, called banjiha, were famously depicted in a flood scene in the 2020 Oscar-winning film “Parasite.” Yun told local residents that he would try to ensure that their lives return to normal as quickly as possible and instructed officials to consider measures to better ensure the safety of residences, according to a statement from his office. At least five people died in Seoul and three others in neighboring Gyeonggi Province by early Tuesday, the National Disaster Mitigation and Security Headquarters said. Four, including three family members, died after drowning in flooded buildings, one was believed to have been electrocuted, another person was found under the debris of a bus stop and the other two died in a landslide, it said. At least nine people were injured, while seven are missing. A boy using an umbrella walks through a flooded street after torrential rain at a traditional market in Seoul, South Korea, August 9, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji read more In the glitzy, dense Gangnam district, some buildings and shops were flooded and without power, while cars, buses and subway stations were submerged, leaving people stranded. Lim Na-kyung, a 31-year-old office worker, recounted her fears on Monday afternoon, saying the situation reminded her of a scene from the 1997 movie “Titanic.” “I had to keep climbing higher and higher because the building was sinking at a rapid rate… I couldn’t believe that I was trapped in the building with 40 other people in the middle of the Gangnam district,” said the mother of two. who eventually had to spend the night in a Pilates center on the fourth floor. The figures showed that at least 765 facilities had been damaged. About 52 highways and roads have been blocked. About 391 people were displaced in the greater Seoul area, most of whom had to stay in local schools and gyms. Another 399 had moved temporarily to community centers and schools, the data showed. The headquarters raised the crisis alert to the highest level and asked the organizations to adjust their working hours. The KMA issued warnings of heavy rainfall across the capital and metropolitan area of 26 million, as well as parts of Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces. The KMA expects the heavy rains for the central part of the country to continue at least until Wednesday. While South Korea often experiences heavy rainfall in the summer, “such a sharp increase in rainfall and frequent torrential rains cannot be explained without the large trend of climate change,” a KMA official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “This phenomenon appears to be occurring more frequently due to climate change resulting in a prolonged summer.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Joori Roh and Minwoo Park. Additional reporting by Josh Smith. Editing by Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
