Four people have been confirmed dead and at least two others missing as torrential rains continue to batter South Korea for a fourth consecutive day, forcing thousands of people from their homes and stranding livestock in rising floodwaters, authorities said.
Authorities warned on Saturday that up to 250mm (9.8 inches) of additional rain could fall throughout the day, raising concerns of further damage and casualties, the country’s official Yonhap news agency reports.
Rain is forecast to last until Monday in some areas, and weather officials have urged extreme caution against the risk of landslides and flooding, with warnings issued for most of South Korea.
More than 2,800 people are still unable to return to their homes out of a total of more than 7,000 people evacuated in recent days, the Ministry of Interior said.
Rainfall since Wednesday reached a record of more than 500mm (almost 20 inches) in South Chungcheong province’s Seosan, located to the south of the capital, Seoul, the ministry added.
According to Yonhap, areas of the country have received 40 percent of their annual average rainfall in just the past four days.
Among those reported dead was a person who suffered a cardiac arrest inside a flooded vehicle on a road in Seosan. The man was taken to a nearby hospital but died later, officials were quoted by Yonhap as saying.
A man in his 80s was found dead in the flooded basement of his home, while a third person died when a retaining wall collapsed onto a moving vehicle. Another person was also found dead in a stream, officials said. Two people remain missing in the southwest city of Gwangju.
In the province of Chungcheong, cows were desperately trying to keep their heads above water after sheds and stables were flooded by the rainwater.
Yonhap also reported a total of 729 cases of damage to public infrastructure, including flooded roads and the collapse of river facilities. Cases of private property damage have reached more than 1,000, including 64 flooded buildings and 59 submerged farmlands, it added.
Rains were also expected in neighbouring North Korea.
In July 2024, torrential rains also hammered parts of South Korea’s southern regions, killing at least four people and causing travel chaos.
