Rainfall of more than 100 millimeters per hour was recorded in Seoul, surrounding areas of Gyeonggi Province and the port city of Incheon on Monday night, Yonhap news agency reported. Hourly rainfall in the Dongjak area exceeded 141.5 millimeters at one point, the heaviest hourly rainfall in Seoul in 80 years. Commuters slowly returned to work on Tuesday after clean-up crews worked through the night, but there were concerns of further damage as torrential rain was forecast for the second straight day. The Korea Meteorological Administration issued heavy rainfall warnings across the capital and metropolitan area of 26 million people, as well as parts of Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces. He said heavy rains in the central region of the country are expected to continue at least until Wednesday. Officials said seven people have been missing since Tuesday morning, as images shared on social media showed people wading through waist-deep water, subway stations overflowing and cars half-submerged in the upscale Gangnam district. “I was near Gangnam Station last night when the rain intensified, with thunder and lightning striking every 30 seconds,” said Lee Dongha, an office worker. “Suddenly, buses, metro stations and roads were submerged and that’s when I quickly decided to book accommodation as I didn’t want to be left with nowhere to go.” A shopkeeper at a traditional market was damaged after torrential rain in Seoul. Photo: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters According to local reports, three people, including a 13-year-old, in the Gwanak district of southern Seoul died when their semi-basement banjiha apartment – similar to the one featured in the Oscar-winning film Parasite – was flooded. . Another woman drowned in her home in the nearby Dongjak district. A public sector worker died while cleaning up fallen tires, apparently after stepping into water that had been electrified by damaged power lines, the interior ministry said. Two people were found dead in the debris of a collapsed bus station and a landslide in the nearby city of Gwangju. The country’s president, Yoon Suk-yeol, ordered the evacuation of residents from high-risk areas and encouraged businesses to adjust their workers’ commute times. “Nothing is more precious than life and safety,” Yoon wrote on his Facebook page. “The government will thoroughly manage the heavy rainfall situation.” More heavy rain is forecast for parts of South Korea on Wednesday. Photo: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters While most of the Seoul metropolitan area’s subway lines were back to normal on Tuesday, about 80 streets and dozens of riverside parking lots remained closed due to safety concerns. South Korea is no stranger to heavy summer rainfall, but a weather administration official said the climate emergency had caused a sharp increase in rainfall and frequent torrential downpours. “This phenomenon is occurring more often due to climate change, which has resulted in a prolonged summer,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Storms also hit North Korea, where authorities issued warnings of heavy rain for the country’s southern and western regions. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper described the rain as potentially “catastrophic” and called for measures to protect farmland and prevent flooding of the Taedong River, which runs through the capital Pyongyang.
