Deadly floods hit South Korea’s central and southern regions
Deadly flash floods struck South Korea's central and southern regions for the third time this month, causing at least two fatalities and hundreds of damaged properties.
Torrential rains battered South Chungcheong and North Jeolla provinces, as well as Daejeon City, from Wednesday to Thursday, July 29 to 30.
According to the Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA), Daejeon received 80 mm (3 inches) of rain in an hour and nearly 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rain in 24 hours to Tuesday. The city's average rainfall for the month of July is 333.9 mm (13.1 inches).
Flash flooding damaged around 100 buildings in the area, including a hospital. Many parking lots, roads, and railway lines were inundated.
Flooding is so bad in Daejeon that rescue crews with inflatable rafts are helping people evacuate their apartments. Water looks to be at least chest deep in some spots pic.twitter.com/4brIi58mIb
— Bryan Betts (@BryanBetts21) July 30, 2020
One person died in an apartment in Seo Ward after suffering a heart attack as floodwaters infiltrated parts of the complex. Firefighters used boats and rescued about 80 tenants from the building.
Another Seo Ward resident was killed by electrocution while pumping water out of a flooded indoor golf facility.
In South Chungcheong Province, which surrounds Daejeon, the governor said emergency services received 118 reports of damage related to floods, including downed trees.
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued heavy rain alerts for parts of Chungcheong, Jeolla, and North Gyeongsang provinces on Wednesday, but was eventually lifted except for Geumsan.
Regional citizens were advised to brace for more heavy downpour until early Friday, July 31.
Featured image credit: ARIRANG NEWS/YouTube
Have we seen this before? Oh..it’s just history repeating itself. Move along, nothing to see!