Two Dead, 1,000 Evacuated as Torrential Rains Batter Parts of South Korea

Seoul – Two people have died and nearly 1,000 residents have been evacuated as heavy rains lashed central and southern parts of South Korea, officials said on Thursday. Authorities have issued warnings of further downpours over the coming days.

As the rain front shifted northward, South Korea's disaster response teams raised the alert to the second-highest level for Chungcheong provinces and the southern region of Gyeonggi Province.

On Wednesday, a retaining wall collapsed in Osan, about 52 km south of Seoul, crushing a moving vehicle and killing the driver. In Seosan, located in South Chungcheong Province, a man was found unresponsive inside a flooded car around 3:59 a.m. on Thursday. He was taken to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead.

Authorities also reported two minor injuries related to hypothermia in Seosan and Buyeo.

Seosan was the worst-affected region, receiving up to 344 mm of rainfall since Wednesday evening. In just one hour — from 1:46 a.m. to 2:46 a.m. — 114.9 mm of rain fell, marking the highest hourly rainfall in July since records began there in 1968.

In Cheongyang, also in South Chungcheong Province, heavy rains triggered a landslide that temporarily trapped two residents. They were rescued and taken to the hospital with leg injuries, though their conditions were not life-threatening.

Meanwhile, the city of Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province recorded 67.4 mm of rainfall in a single hour, the second-highest hourly rainfall in the country during the storm.

By 7 a.m. Thursday, the government had issued 26 emergency rain alerts via mobile phones nationwide, with 25 of them targeting the Chungcheong region. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), such alerts are sent when rainfall exceeds 50 mm per hour, 90 mm over three hours, or 72 mm in a single hour.

More Rain Expected Through Saturday

• Seoul and Chungcheong Province: 50 to 150 mm of rainfall expected by Friday

• North Jeolla Province: 30 to 100 mm

• Gwangju and South Jeolla Provinces: 20 to 80 mm

From Friday onwards, the southern regions are also forecast to face intense downpours, with Ulsan and Busan expected to receive 100 to 200 mm of rain.

With inputs from IANS