Heavy rain leaves 7 dead, 3 missing

The heavy rain that continued from the night of Wednesday to Sunday left 7 people dead and 3 people missing in the Honam and Chungcheong areas. Moreover, the rain left 19 families and 42 people homeless. Nationwide, the rain destroyed or flooded 138 houses and inundated 5033 ha of farmlands, causing property damage worth 6.9 billion won. The Central Anti-Calamity Headquarters issued Sunday a nationwide order for mobilization of civil defense corps everywhere except Jeju island, and requested self-governing bodies to place utmost priority on attending to flood victims and controlling the situation.

On Saturday at around 8:40 p.m. in Gunsan, North Jeolla province, a landslide on a sloping road on a mountain behind Kumho apartments killed Mr. Yoo Hwa-Jong and two other public servants from Gunsan City Hall`s department of construction and road control, who were repairing damage from a previous landslide, and seriously injured 5 more. Moreover, on Sunday morning in Chongnyang county, South Chungcheong Province, Mr. Kim Young-Ho, who was fishing at a reservoir, was swept away by the current and reported missing when the bank he was standing on was washed away. The rain left 5 people dead or missing in the Chungcheong area.

The water level at South Chungcheong¡¯s Ganggeong area, the lower part of Geumgang, where a flood warning was issued at 1 a.m. Sunday, reached the maximum of 7.13m at 6 AM, surpassing the danger level of 7.0m. The level decreased again as the rain grew weaker in the afternoon. However, as the Daecheong dam, which is located at the higher part of Geumgang, has been releasing 1500 tons of water per second due to the rise of the water level since Sunday, the water level at Ganggeong may rise again from the afternoon of Monday, causing further flood damage.