At least 3 killed in heavy rains
This photo, taken on June 30, shows trails and bicycle lanes along the Tan Stream in Seongnam, south of Seoul, submerged and closed, as weather authorities issued a heavy rain warning for the capital and its surrounding areas. Yonhap
Heavy rains that pounded the country this week have killed at least three people, and flooded houses and farmland nationwide, officials said Friday.
A man in his 90s was killed when the roof of his house collapsed in the central city of Gongju on Thursday, while a construction worker drowned in a pool of water created by the torrential downpours at an apartment construction site in Yongin, south of Seoul, on the same day.
The circumstances of the third death were not immediately known.
The downpours also flooded more than 2,900 hectares of farmland across the country, according to government officials.
The seasonal rain also toppled scores of trees, and submerged more than 190 properties and cars, forcing residents to evacuate. Damage was also reported at bridges and dams.
The annual monsoon season that brought three days of heavy rain hit the country's central region the hardest, where an average precipitation of 270.4 millimeters was reported in Gyeonggi Province alone.
The downpours continued through late Thursday, bringing a daily precipitation of more than 280 millimeters in areas like Suwon and Yangju in Gyeonggi Province. Dobong and Gangdong Wards in northern and eastern Seoul also reported 238 millimeters and 224.5 millimeters of rain, respectively.
The heavy rain has weakened in the past few hours, prompting the government to lower its rain warning as of 3 a.m. Friday.
The weather agency, however, advised residents to stay on alert with an additional 40 to 50 millimeters of rain expected late in the afternoon in parts of Gyeonggi and Gangwon, as well as South and North Chungcheong Provinces. (Yonhap)