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A stream in eastern Seoul is flooded due to heavy rains on Tuesday. (Yonhap) |
An elderly woman was reported missing and over 40 people were evacuated in heavy rains that swept across the country, officials said Wednesday.
The downpours lashed many parts of the country, including Seoul and Busan, on Tuesday and the rainfall persisted in the southern regions on Wednesday.
As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, heavy rain alerts had been issued for the southeastern and southwestern coastal regions.
On Tuesday afternoon, a 68-year-old woman went missing near a stream in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said. Firefighters and police continued their search for her on Wednesday.
On Tuesday morning, a 75-year-old man was found dead in a stream in Yeoju, about 60 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Authorities classified the incident as a safety accident rather than a casualty caused directly by the heavy rainfall.
A total of 52 people from 33 families were evacuated Tuesday in Seoul, Busan, Gwangju and North Gyeongsang Province. As of Wednesday morning, 42 people from 26 households had not yet returned to their homes.
The headquarters also reported temporary flooding of six houses in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, and Wonju, Gangwon Province, on Tuesday.
In Busan, seven vehicles were submerged, and 220 apartment units experienced a power outage. In Daegu, a 200-meter-long wall at a demolition site collapsed, damaging 29 vehicles.
In Seoul, a section of subway Line 1 temporarily halted operations for about 15 minutes on Tuesday afternoon due to heavy rain.
On Wednesday morning, 19 roads in Busan, Gyeonggi Province and other regions remained closed and access to trails across 17 national parks was also blocked. (Yonhap)
