Wet weekend expected as monsoon front sticks around

Social Affairs

Published: 13 Jul. 2023, 18:05 Updated: 13 Jul. 2023, 18:06

Wet weekend expected as monsoon front sticks around

People cross a sidewalk in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday as heavy rain falls in the area. [YONHAP]

Heavy rains are expected to soak the peninsula through the weekend and next week as a monsoon front lingers over the country.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday told the government to make all efforts to prevent accidents and casualties from the rain, noting that excessive responses should be made, particularly in disaster situations.

Yoon issued the order in a phone call with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo during his official visit to Poland, according to Senior Presidential Press Secretary Kim Eun-hye.

The Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA) issued heavy rain advisories in the greater Seoul and Chungcheong area on Thursday morning.

A heavy rain advisory is issued when precipitation for the next six hours is expected to exceed 70 millimeters (2.7 inches), or when precipitation for the next 12 hours is expected to exceed 110 millimeters.

Roads were flooded in Incheon. Firefighters drained water from a three-way intersection in Jung District at noon Thursday. An underground road in Gyeyang District, Incheon, was also flooded, restricting access.

Five trains heading to Seoul Station from Gyeyang Station in Incheon experienced power outages for about five minutes in the morning.

The Incheon city government also restricted access to beaches in the area, including Eurwangni Beach.

Over 250 millimeters of rain is expected to fall in the greater Seoul area through Saturday.

A pathway near Cheoggye Stream in Jongno District, central Seoul, is flooded as heavy rain advisories were issued in Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The Seoul city government restricted entry to all of the city’s 27 streams and their pathways.

Some 288 households in Dobong District, northern Seoul, experienced power outages after a tree fell on a power cable Thursday afternoon due to heavy rain accompanied by wind gusts.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the city government’s disaster monitoring office on Thursday morning and advised officials to conduct preemptive inspections of areas prone to flooding, particularly basements, to prevent accidents and casualties from the heavy downpour.

Roads near Gangnam Station in southern Seoul are flooded Thursday. [YONHAP]

Torrential rainfall last summer caused flash floods in Seoul, including in the southern district of Gangnam and its neighborhoods.

A heavy rain warning was issued in Osan, Gyeonggi earlier on Thursday morning as 67 millimeters of rain fell in the area. The warning was reduced to a heavy rain advisory later in the day.

The KMA issued preliminary heavy rain advisories in South Chungcheong for Thursday night and North Jeolla for Friday dawn. Over 400 millimeters of rain is forecast for South Chungcheong and North Jeolla through Saturday.

The rain is expected to continue until next week as the stationary front oscillates north and south from Monday, the KMA said.

Meanwhile, police are still searching for a 68-year-old woman who went missing near a stream in Busan on Tuesday after heavy rain hit the city. Police and emergency workers have been searching the stream in Sasang District since Tuesday.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]