Heavy Rain Swept Central Area

The seasonal rain front swept the capital area by the torrential rain falls accompanying lightening and thunderbolts on July 29 is now heading back southward, anticipating more damages in the central area with its precipitation up to 400 mm until July 30.

At 4:00 p.m. July 29, the central area including Seoul, Kyonggi, Incheon, and the northern Chungcheong area is under the torrential rain alarm and the Westside of Taebaek Mountains in Kangwon is under the torrential rain warning.

The Korea Meteorological Administration analyzed that ``through the border of the Northern Pacific high pressure, which pushed up the seasonal rains front, the air of high temperature and humidity has flown into the seasonal rain front, bringing rain in the central area. The rain will continue altering heavy and light rains in the central area until Aug 2.``

The precipitations by 4:00 p.m. in the central area record 185.8 mm in Incheon, 148.5 mm in Kanghwa Island, 112.4 mm in Seosan, 127.1 mm in Seoul, and 119.3 mm in Suwon. Particularly in Suwon, 46.5 mm precipitation concentrated in an hour from 7:00 a.m.

KMA forecasted, ``Seoul, Kyonggi, and west Kangwon area will have additional 80-120 mm rainfalls and the north Chungcheong is also expected to have 20-80 mm rainfalls on July 29 and 30. Some areas may have torrential rains over 50 mm per hour.

A source of KMA revealed that ``the torrential rain alarms and warnings will be expanded to the whole Chungcheong and Kangwon areas and the 5 Islands in the West Sea. The precipitation may record over 400 mm in some areas.``

According to the National Disaster Prevention and Countermeasures Headquarters, 1914 houses were flooded in the central area and some sections of the roads were blocked. The operation of the Juan-Incheon section of the Subway No. 1 was temporarily cancelled on July 29. Meanwhile, the southern area of the Peninsula will have sporadic showers but maintain the high temperature around 32-34 centigrade.

Kim Joon-Seok kjs359@donga.com