At least 8 people died and another 14 were injured during the night from Monday to Tuesday because the heavy rains in the Seoul metropolitan area, the capital of South Korea, caused enormous inconvenience. Six more people are currently missing. More than 100 millimeters of rain per hour were falling in the southern part of Seoul, the nearby port city of Incheon and some areas of Gyeonggi province (which surrounds the capital) Monday evening, according to South Korea’s weather agency analysis, quoted by Yonhap news agency. In the Dongjak district, in the southern part of Seoul, 141.5 mm of rain per hour was measured: this is the most intense rain in the last 80 years.
Local authorities said there were power outages and frequent power outages due to heavy rains. The photos and videos published on social networks during these hours show numerous streets flooded due to torrential rains and people trying to cross some of them on foot, with water often reaching their knees.
Several buildings and shops were also flooded in the Gangnam district, the richest in Seoul, south of the Han River. Several parked cars, but also buses and other means of transport flooded with water were washed away by the torrential rain. Several subway stations were also flooded.
On Tuesday, the national body dealing with disaster and emergency response said dead bodies were found both in Seoul and in nearby Gyeonggi province: at least four died in flooded buildings, including one who was electrocuted , one was found in the rubble of a bus stop and another died in a landslide.
At the moment there are at least 163 displaced people housed in schools and public buildings, Yonhap reports.
Seoul and other parts of South Korea are currently experiencing torrential downpours.
The Dorimcheon River in Seoul’s Gwanak District is flooded everywhere, evacuation notice has just been issued for people living nearby.
Crazy scenes in many other places.pic.twitter.com/EafcXpvvBB
– Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) August 8, 2022
Much of Seoul’s subway system resumed normal operations on Tuesday morning, but around 80 streets remain closed as a precaution, as do several parking lots near the Han River. Since very heavy rainfall is expected in both the Seoul metropolitan area and other provinces in the center and north of the country at least until Wednesday, the agency responsible for emergency situations has nevertheless declared the maximum weather alert level.
In Seoul, it rains quite frequently in the summer season, even heavy ones. However, an official with the local weather service, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, said the frequency of extreme weather events such as torrential rains has increased recently due to climate change, which is adding a summer longer than summer this year brought the norm.