By Kim Hyun-bin
Two people died and three were injured due to torrential rain that bombarded the Seoul capital area for two consecutive days from Tuesday to Wednesday.
A 57-year-old man was found dead outside his home in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, early Thursday morning. He is believed to have fallen down steps leading to his house and hit his head fatally, according to police.
The previous day, a 49-year-old man drowned after he was trapped in his car while stuck in a flooded expressway in northeastern Seoul.
Goyang in Gyeonggi Province recorded 524 millimeters of rainfall from Tuesday to Wednesday, while Uijeongbu in the same province recorded 449 mm. Dobong-gu, a northeastern district of Seoul, had nearly 250 mm of rain on Wednesday alone.
Over 700 cases of flooding were reported in the capital, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government _ 680 in basements of residential homes, 18 in stores and four where flood barriers collapsed.
The heavy downpour forced 180 people across the country to seek temporary shelter; another 370 had to evacuate their homes but were able to return later.
Nearly 2,000 homes and businesses were damaged in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province and over 630 hectares of crops destroyed.
The rain stopped in the capital region early Thursday and the Korea Meteorological Administration lifted the heavy rain warnings. However, Seoul is expected to see up to 80 mm of rain throughout the rest of the week, according to the weather agency.
Light rain is expected to continue in the southern regions including the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces with around 50 mm to 100 mm of rain, Friday.