South Korea continued to be battered by heavy monsoon rains through Thursday morning, with severe weather causing widespread flooding, property damage and emergency evacuations across central and other parts of the country, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), torrential rain was falling at rates of up to 50 millimeters per hour in the central Chungcheong provinces, where heavy rain warnings had already been issued.
The downpours also affected neighboring areas in North Jeolla, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces.
The KMA said cumulative rainfall recorded between Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday exceeded 220 millimeters in the central cities of Daejeon and Cheongju. The agency forecast that the Chungcheong and southern regions could receive up to an additional 200 millimeters of rain through Thursday night.
As the severe weather persisted, the state weather agency issued landslide and flood advisories across the country, warning of continued risks from the intense rainfall.
In North Chungcheong Province, authorities evacuated 82 residents in Boeun County to village halls and senior citizen centers early Thursday amid concerns that a reservoir could overflow. Firefighters in the same county also rescued two people who had become trapped inside a flooded home.
In Cheongju’s Gadeok district, an embankment collapsed, prompting the evacuation of residents as well as staff and occupants of a nursing home to a nearby welfare facility.
Emergency authorities said they had received a total of 145 reports of heavy rain-related damage nationwide between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday.
In Daejeon, firefighters rescued two people after floodwaters trapped them inside a vehicle on a submerged road, as emergency crews continued responding to weather-related incidents across the country.