Comment SEOUL — At least seven people have died in floods after heavy rains lashed South Korea on Monday and Tuesday, including in the capital Seoul, flooding city streets and subway stations. Photos and videos from the Seoul metropolitan area, home to about 25 million people, showed half-submerged cars, people walking through waist-deep water and subway stations overflowing. Government officials said the seven reported deaths included a 13-year-old boy who got stuck in the basement of a building in Seoul with two adults. Another six people are missing. The record rainfall – which had not ended by Tuesday morning local time – was the worst in some parts of Seoul since 1904, the year local officials began recording rainfall. About 381.5 millimeters (15 inches) of rain lashed southwestern Seoul on Monday, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency. The next day with the highest rainfall was on 2 August 1920, when about 354.7 millimeters (14 in) fell in the capital. One particular image has sparked concern and intrigue online: a man in a suit sits atop a sunken car in Seoul’s upscale Gangnam district. Seoul and other parts of South Korea are currently experiencing torrential rains. The Dorimcheon Stream in Seoul’s Gwanak District has been flooded everywhere, with an evacuation notice just issued for people living nearby. Crazy scenes in many other places.pic.twitter.com/EafcXpvvBB — Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) August 8, 2022 “Nothing is more precious than life and safety. The government will thoroughly manage the heavy rainfall situation with the central headquarters of disaster safety measures,” President Yoon Suk-yeol wrote in a Facebook post. Blackouts hit some parts of the city and residents living in low-lying areas were told to evacuate. The Korea Meteorological Agency issued rainfall warnings until Monday night in several central regions, warning that some areas would see 50 to 100 millimeters (1.9 to 3.9 inches) of rain per hour. It also sent heat alerts to provinces in eastern South Korea. These heavy rainfall events around the world are increasing due to human-induced climate change. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and produce heavier rainfall. CRAZY flooding in Seoul/Gyeonggi right now. More than six feet above normal levels in 안양천… Wow Seoul and Gyeonggi floods are so crazy pic.twitter.com/gSHCrbqmY4 — Joseph (@josephlhatfield) August 8, 2022 Joseph Hatfield, 36, a teacher in Seoul who recorded a video of the flooding in Anyang city in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, told The Post that he saw many people in first-floor units trying to get water out of their homes and businesses. “The river floods after heavy rain, but I’ve never seen it this high before, so it was quite worrying,” he said, adding that levels gradually rose throughout the afternoon as it rained into the night.
