At least 18 people have died and nine others have been missing as a result of the government’s lifting of advisories for heavy rain and the meteorological agency’s warning about a return to heatwaves in the country, according to authorities.
The military also announced sending thousands of troops to flooded areas to aid in recovery efforts, as a result of the toll on Monday.
Some of South Korea’s central and southern provinces experienced some of the heaviest hourly rainfall ever due to the downpours that started on July 16 and poured in some of the provinces. Homes were destroyed by the five-day deluge, which also caused landslides, flash floods, and which also swept away cars and campers.
According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, four people are still missing in the southern county of Sancheong and at least 10 have died there.
A man who had been camping nearby a stream there was found dead after being swept away by rapid currents, and another person was killed when their home fell to the town of Gapyeong, northeast of Seoul.
The man’s wife and teenage son are still missing, according to South Korean JoongAng Daily. In the same town, two other people were reported missing, including a 70-year-old man who had been buried in a massive earthquake.
According to the Yonhap news agency, the rains also caused “extensive property damage” and forced some 14, 166 people to leave their homes in 15 cities and provinces.
According to the organization, 2, 238 cases of damage were recorded at private residences and buildings, compared to 1, 999 cases of damage that were reported at public facilities.
The South Korean military announced that to aid in the recovery efforts, it has sent about 2,500 personnel to the southwest of Gwangju as well as the provinces of South Chungcheong and South Gyeongsang.
The troops will be rehabilitating the affected homes and businesses, the statement read.
Because of the monsoonal rains that were forecast this year, Associate Professor Hannah June Kim of the Graduate School of International Studies at Sogang University in Seoul, told Al Jazeera.
She said, “We anticipated that monsoons wouldn’t show up this summer.” Therefore, many local areas were unprepared when this heavy rain started to fall this week.
She continued, “We are seeing the severe effects of climate change and how it’s affecting various regions.”
The southern regions of South Korea were expected to experience more rainfall on Monday, but the Meteorological Administration (KMA) warned of a heatwave in the area. The JoongAng Daily reports that parts of South Jeolla, the east coast of Gangwon, and Jeju Island have already received heatwave advisories and warnings.
According to the report, “daytime lows will remain between 23 and 26 degrees Celsius]73.4F to 78.8F] and daytime highs will range from 30 to 35 degrees Celsius [86F to 95F] in the morning and 29 to 33 degrees Celsius]84.2F to 91.4F] during the day.”
According to scientists, extreme weather events are more frequent and frequent all over the world due to climate change.
At least 11 people died as a result of record-breaking rains and flooding in South Korea in 2022.
Three of them died trapped in a Seoul basement apartment, similar to the one that gained international notoriety with the Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite.
Source: Aljazeera
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