The capital region of South Korea was inundated with some of the worst rain in several decades, which transformed the streets of Seoul into rivers jammed with cars and caused floods to cascade into subway stations.
At least eight individuals were found dead, some of whom had drowned in their own homes, and seven more were reported missing while the weather prediction called for further rain.
Cars and buses that had been abandoned were strewn across the streets as the water began to recede on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, workers were using excavators to remove uprooted trees, mud, and debris, and they blocked off roads and pavement that had been damaged.
Nearly fifty cities and towns were given landslide warnings, and more than one hundred and sixty hiking pathways in Seoul and the hilly province of Gangwon were shut down.
It is anticipated that the heavy rain will continue for several more days… “We have to keep our feeling of alertness and respond with all-out effort,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said at the emergency headquarters of the government.
To reduce the risk of additional fatalities, he directed the focus of the authorities toward places that were prone to landslides or flooding, as well as toward repairing roads and facilities that had already been damaged.
There was a significant return to normalcy in the majority of Seoul’s subway systems, although dozens of roads remained closed owing to safety concerns.
According to the spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, Moon Hong-Sik, the military was prepared to deploy troops to assist with recovery work should cities or regional governments request their assistance.
The rain started falling early on Monday morning and picked up pace throughout the day.
People were forced to wade through thigh-high waters in the streets of Gangnam, one of the most bustling business and leisure districts in Seoul, by the time nightfall arrived.
Cars and buses were stranded in the murky brown waters. Commuters were forced to leave the Isu metro station when water began to pour down the stairs in a waterfall-like fashion.
A hillside that had been undermined by rain in the city of Seongnam, which is adjacent, crashed into a university soccer field.
Monday night in the Gwanak neighbourhood of southern Seoul, rescue workers were unable to reach three people who called for help before drowning in a basement home.
The victims were two sisters who were in their 40s and a girl who was 13 years old. Another woman was found dead from drowning at her home in the adjoining district of Dongjak, which was also the location where a public worker was found dead while removing downed trees, most likely from electrocution.
An official working in the Dongjak district ward office named Choi Seon-Yeong stated that it was not immediately evident whether the water was electrified due to a faulty power source or equipment the man was using.
Four people have been reported missing in the Seocho district of southern Seoul, which is also home to Yoon’s private residence.
According to his office, Yoon spent hours on the phone overnight receiving briefings and issuing instructions as the rain flooded some of the streets near his high-rise apartment complex in southern Seoul. The rain caused some of the streets to become flooded.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, about 800 buildings in Seoul and adjacent cities were damaged, and at least 790 individuals were forced to abandon their houses as a result of the earthquake.
On Tuesday, the national weather service continued to issue a heavy rain warning for the Seoul metropolitan area and the surrounding regions.
The alert stated that the rate of precipitation could reach between 2 and 4 inches in some areas, and it covered the entire region.
According to what was read, the capital region could receive an additional 10 to 35 centimetres (4 to 14 inches) of precipitation between now and Thursday.
In the Dongjak district of Seoul, which was the hardest impacted, rainfall totals of over 43 centimetres (17 inches) were observed between Monday and noon on Tuesday.
At one point on Monday night, the hourly precipitation in that area hit 14 centimetres (5.5 inches), which was the greatest hourly deluge measured in Seoul since 1942.
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Rainstorms also hit North Korea, where authorities issued heavy rain warnings for portions of the country located in the south and west.
The official newspaper of the North, Rodong Sinmun, referred to the rain as possibly “disastrous,” and it called for precautions to be taken to safeguard agriculture and prevent floods on the Taedong river, which passes through Pyongyang.
