Extreme precipitation wreaks havoc in South Korea with numerous floods and landslides

Heavy rain falling in South Korea since July 9 intensified during the weekend and caused numerous floods and landslides in the country.

Furthermore, more than 60 cm of precipitation has been measured in the towns of Gongju and Cheongyang, located in the worst hit province of South Chungcheong, while more than 54 cm was recorded in the province’s capital, Cheongju. The most intense phenomena took place on Saturday with reports of 30 cm of precipitation across South Korea on that day alone, while the yearly average ranged between 1,000 mm to 1,800 mm.

The extreme weather conditions resulted in heavy flooding and landslides, which have claimed more than 40 lives so far.

A train was derailed on Friday due to soil accumulating on its tracks.

On Friday and Saturday, landslides caused several casualties, with 5 of them occurring inside houses that collapsed in the events.

On Saturday, several dams initiated controlled water release, while one was overtopped and caused thousands of people to be evacuated.

However, the most significant incident was the flooding of a 685-meter-long road tunnel in the city of Cheongju. At least 15 vehicles, including one bus, got trapped in the tunnel, which flooded within 2-3 minutes.

It has so far been reported that about 900 rescuers, including divers, were mobilized at the site, and at least nine people were rescued from the tunnel, while another 13, unfortunately, did not make it.

Rain is forecast to continue during the week.