400mm Downpour, 6000 Homes Flooded

There was a local downpour of 30 ~ 50mm of rain per hour in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon area on the 6th; therefore, 3 people were missing, many houses and croplands were flooded, and local flights were canceled.

This local downpour, which was started on the 4th and continuing for 3 days, poured more than 400mm, and it was predicted to be continued until the 8th, so more rain damages would be expected.

The Meteorological Administration predicted on the 6th, “A rain cloud belt will move south, there will be a local downpour in southern area and Jeju Island starting tonight until the 8th,” and “even after the downpour, the rain will continue until the 10th throughout the country.”

The forecasted rainfall would be 60 ~ 200mm in central area and 100 ~ 300mm in southern area and Jeju Island.

As of 4PM on the 6th, a downpour warning is in effect in south Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, south Gangwon, Jeju, and Honam area, and a downpour alert is in effect in other areas.

However, the flood warning in the Imjin River area, which was issued at 7:30 in the morning, was canceled at 4PM.

In the meantime, the total rainfall from the 4th until 4PM on the 6th in each area is as followed: Hyeon-Ri, Hah-Myeon, Gapyeong, Gyeonggi had most with 415.5mm, Cheolwon had 347.5mm, Euijungbu had 301mm, Hwacheon had 279.5mm, Inje had 277mm, Seoul had 251.5mm, Pocheon had 241mm, Dongducheon had 228mm, Hongcheon had 227mm, and Munsan had 211mm.

▽ Casualties= Kim Gyung-suk (45, Female, Bono-Dong, Ansan City, Gyeonggi), who was camping near the Jamsoo bridge in front of Sandeotgol, Byeongjibang 2-Ri, Gapcheon-Myun, Hwoingseong-Gun, Gangwon, was missing by the rapid at around 10:30 in the morning on the 6th.

And at round 2 in the morning on the same day, a landslide from a small mountain in Chugok 2-Ri, Buksan-Myeon, Chuncheon City, Gangwon hit Kim Cheon-Bong’s (48) deer farm, so Mr. Kim was missing and 20 some heads of deer were buried.

▽ Flooding Damages= According to the Central Disaster Control Headquarters, as of 4PM that day, 5,478 homes in Seoul, 371 in Gyeonggi, 187 in Incheon, and total of 6,036 homes had flooding damages.

And 200ha of rice field in Paju, Gyunggi, 30ha in Yeoncheon, 11ha in Goyang, and total of 250ha of rice field were flooded.

▽ Miscellaneous= As of the afternoon on that day, total of 23 local flights, including the Korean Air 1353 from Gimpo to Mokpo at 10:05AM, 13 flights in Gimhea, 6 in Yeosu, and 4 in Mokpo, were canceled due to strong wind and rain.

And the traffic signal light toward Hancheon-Ro at Wolgye 2 Bridge, Wolgye-Dong, Nowon-Gu was out of order at around 2:20PM due to the local downpour and lightening, and 30 some more traffic lights were destroyed in Seoul.

gdt@donga.com cschoi@donga.com