SEOUL – At least seven people were killed when some of the heaviest rainfall in decades hit the Seoul area overnight, flooding homes, streets and subway stations, South Korean officials said Tuesday.
Three of the dead, two sisters in their 40s and a 13-year-old girl, were found early Tuesday as rescuers pumped out the water that had flooded their semi-basement home in south Seoul. Another was a council employee, apparently electrocuted while removing a tree that had fallen onto a sidewalk, police said.
In addition to the seven confirmed deaths, officials said six people were missing after floods pulled them into manholes, underground passageways or streams.
Nearly 17 inches of rain fell in southern Seoul between early Monday and early Tuesday, about as much as in a typical summer months, weather officials said. In one district, 5.4 inches fell in one hour, breaking an 80-year record in Seoul.
More heavy rain was expected in the capital and provinces east and south on Tuesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.
The floods have turned the Monday evening rush hour in Seoul into chaos. Some subway stations were closed and motorists left cars in the upscale Gangnam district as roads became impassable. Homes and other buildings suffered from power outages.
Photos on social media showed commuters wading through medium-deep water, drivers stranded on car roofs and rainwater spilling over the steps of subway stations. Some footage from Tuesday morning, after the floods subsided, resembled a disaster movie, with cars scattered on the city streets.
Hiking trails in the mountains surrounding Seoul were closed on Tuesday and the government warned that landslides were possible. Companies were urged to adjust their working hours so that employees could avoid traffic jams and potential hazards.
President Yoon Suk-yeol, whose approval numbers have plummeted since he took office in May, said on Facebook that he had “ordered related government agencies to evacuate people from dangerous areas to avoid human casualties.”
North Korea has also been hit by heavy rainfall in recent weeks. Several bodies found in South Korea near the country’s border last month are believed to be those of flood victims dragged downriver from the north, South Korean police said.
In the past, floods have also moved land mines from the north to the south. Officials warned South Koreans living near the border to exercise caution, saying the north had allowed flooding from nearby dams to escape.