One person missing, hundreds evacuated due to landslides, heavy rain in central Korea

Home > National > Social Affairs

One person missing, hundreds evacuated due to landslides, heavy rain in central Korea

Published: 08 Jul. 2024, 13:01 Updated: 08 Jul. 2024, 18:21

LEE SOO-JUNG
lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr

A woman stares at a damaged house partly buried by eroded soil from heavy downpours since Saturday evening in Yeongyang County, North Gyeongsang on Monday. The area received over 142.5 millimeters (5.61 inches) of rainfall on Monday. [YONHAP]

One person went missing and hundreds of others were evacuated in central regions of the country between Sunday night and Monday morning due to flooding and landslide threats as heavy downpours continued.

First responders rescued eight residents in Imdong-myeon and Daegok-ri, North Gyeongsang after they were stranded by heavy rainfall, according to Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters and the Andong city government on Monday. Eleven other residents evacuated the area on their own.

Chungbuk Fire Service Headquarters received a missing report at around 8:43 a.m. from a woman in North Chungcheong who said the hillside behind her house had collapsed and that she could neither find nor contact her husband, who had gone outside.

Although emergency workers have been searching for the missing husband for hours, the mission has been hindered by worsening landslide dangers.

Some 50 people were evacuated in North Gyeongsang — five in Cheongsong County, 26 in Yeongyang County and 19 from the city of Andong — because of flooding as of 6 a.m, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

In Daejeon, first responders also saved a trucker in his 70s who reported that he could not get out of a flooded road next to a stream at around 5:50 a.m.

A total of 228 people from 146 households across three municipalities evacuated because of potential landslides triggered by heavy rainfall.

An excavator scoops water out from a flooded construction site in Daejeon on Monday morning. [NEWS1]

The state weather agency issued heavy rain advisories and warnings in Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang areas.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), North Gyeongsang has received over 200 millimeters (7.87 inches) of rainfall since 9 p.m. Saturday. Chungcheong saw 160 millimeters of precipitation over the same period.

The weather authority said heavy rain at 30 millimeters per hour will continue in central regions through Monday.

On Monday, President Yoon Suk Yeol asked officials to be “thoroughly prepared for the heavy rainfall,” according to Lee Do-woon, senior presidential secretary for public relations.

After being briefed about the downpour in North Gyeongsang during a meeting with presidential secretaries earlier that same day, Yoon said that “extreme weather events have happened frequently in recent days due to climate change."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety began operations at its Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and elevated a national heavy rain crisis warning to “caution,” the third-highest level of the four-tier system.

The ministry asked authorities to take preemptive measures to prevent damages and to prioritize protecting people with mobility difficulties and adults over 65 years old. It also noted that ongoing downpours may trigger landslides, flooding of rivers and streams and flooding in basements.

The ministry asked first responders to reinforce safety monitoring in areas with sloppy landscapes or low-land terrain, or facilities such as underground motorways.

"Swift response and on-time management are highly important to minimize damages [caused by heavy rain],” Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said, asking relevant local governments, police and fire agencies to establish an emergency response system and ensure rapid assistance to risky situations.

UPDATE, July 8: Information on the person missing and presidential briefing included.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, LEE HAY-JUNE, CHO MOON-GYU [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]