95-year-old in Incheon basement dies in floods

Heavy rain hit Seoul and surrounding areas in Gyeonggi early Sunday with up to 96 millimeters (3.7 inches) of rain per hour, prompting authorities to issue weather warnings advising people to be careful.

The downpours on Sunday concentrated in the capital and surrounding cities, especially Incheon, leaving a 95-year-old man drowned to death in a basement apartment in Incheon.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, Seoul had 133.5 millimeters of rain while 69.3 millimeters of downpour hit Incheon. Suwon received 63.3 millimeters of rain. The area with the most rainfall was Goyang, which had 155.5 millimeters. Siheung, which at one point received 96 millimeters of rain per hour, had 129 millimeters of rainfall.

The only casualty from the Sunday rainfall came in Namdong District, Incheon, where a 95-year-old man was found in his basement apartment floating in 1 meter-deep water at around 9:54 a.m. The authorities believe the 95-year-old man failed to escape from the apartment after his wife went outside for help as the water flooded in. The wife was in her 80s.

The heavy downfall prompted authorities to block three-lane roads leading into Seoul from Goyang at around 10:20 a.m. since the roads were flooded. They were reopened around 12:20 p.m. after draining was done.

The heavy rain trapped seven workers on a subway construction site in Bupyeong District, Incheon, at around 9:40 p.m. as the area was hit with 92 millimeters of rain. The workers were rescued an hour later without injury.

Most rain warnings and alerts were lifted around 2 p.m.

While greater Seoul got drenched, the country’s southern regions were suffering from sizzling heat Sunday, with heat warnings imposed in Jeolla and Gyeongsang regions as temperatures hit well above the 30 degree Celsius mark.

At one point, Busan saw its temperature reach 34 degree Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit). The coastal city had nearly a million people flock to beaches.

The state-run weather forecaster said North Jeolla and North Gyeongsang will have rainfall from Monday afternoon affected by a seasonal rain front. South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang could also have sudden showers in the afternoon, the Korea Meteorological Agency said. The weather forecaster predicted up to 50 millimeters of rain will fall in the central region on Monday accompanied by thunder and lighting.

BY KANG JIN-KYU [kang.jinkyu@joongang.co.kr]