Heavy Rains in Central Area Toll 5 Deaths and 3 Missing

By the torrential rains in the central area from the dawn of 29th through 30th, 5 people died and 3 people are missing in the Seoul and Kyonggi area.

The rain is expected to continue till today accumulating 150 mm precipitation in the central area, increasing the worries about additional flood damages.

According to the interim calculation of the Korea Disaster Prevention and Countermeasures Headquarters, 2968 houses including 2345 houses in Incheon were flooded and 342 hectares of the farm land in the Kyonggi area was submerged by 4:00 p.m., July 30. In addition, three hectares of farmland in Seosan, Chungnam, were swept away or buried under the mud.

The landslides from the nearby hills killed two workers of the Cheongsan Industry, Daecheon-Ri, Kyonggi, while they are sleeping in the residence. In the valley of Mt. Bukhan, Seoul, an unidentified tourist was swept away by the rapids.

A railway bridge over Wangsuk Stream at 2 km away from Donggyo station toward Donong station of the Central Railway sank 20-30 cm about 10:55 a.m. yesterday. As a result, the operation of trains between the Mangwu Station and Donong Station has been suspended.

Korean National Railroad dispatched 15 buses to the area right after the incident and has detoured the trains from Cheongryang-Ri Station through Jaecheon Station. The railroad operation is expected to be recovered in the morning today.

The flood warning in the Imjin River area was lifted about 3:00 p.m. However, the central area, Seoul, Kyonggi, north Kangwon, Chungnam, and south Kangwon, Chungbuk, 5 Islands in the West Sea under the torrential rain warning and alerts respectively, had over 200 mm rainfalls.

The precipitations recorded 236.5 mm in Incheon, 224.2 in Suwon, 217.2 in Seoul, 202.9 in Seosan, 199.0 in Tongducheon, 194.7 in Munsan, and 170.8 in Cheolwon.

Korea Meteorological Administration forecasted that ``by the influx of the highly humid vapors through the troughs from the Southwest to the seasonal rain front, there will be 20-100 mm additional rainfalls in the area of Seoul, Kyonggi, Chungcheong, West Kangwon and 10-60 mm more rains in the East Kangwon by August 31. Since regional torrential rains over 30 mm per hour are expected, more alerts are requested.``

Jung Yeon-Wook jyw11@donga.com