SEOSAN CITY, South Korea: At least three people were killed and more than 1,000 evacuated on Thursday (Jul 17) after South Korea was hit by torrential rains, officials said, with one region pummelled by the most rainfall per hour since full records began.
South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July, but three areas in the country’s South Chungcheong province this week saw some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record, official weather data showed.
Three people were killed on Thursday, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said, all in South Chuncheong province.
“As of 4pm local time, at least three people have died today due to torrential rains,” a Ministry of Interior and Safety official told AFP, adding that more than 1,000 people had been evacuated.
Police told AFP that one person was found inside a submerged vehicle, an elderly man was swept away near a stream, and another elderly man had been found dead in a flooded basement apartment after his son reported him missing.
The western Seosan area was hit by rainfall peaking at 114.9mm per hour, “a level typically seen only once in 100 years”, a weather agency official told AFP, adding that this was the highest rate since full records began in 1904.
The heavy rains were due to “warm and moist air flowing in along the edge of the North Pacific High, triggering strong atmospheric instability”, the official added.
