Up to 100 mm of rain per hour likely to soak central region

Up to 100 millimeters of rain per hour is forecast to soak parts of South Korea’s central region late Friday through early Saturday, the weather agency said.

The eastward low atmospheric pressure from China’s Shandong Peninsula that caused heavy rains in the country Thursday and Friday is expected to give way to a cyclone from Mongolia, resulting in downpours across the nation through Saturday morning, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

The central province of Chungcheong and parts of the adjacent North Jeolla Province, in particular, may see precipitation of up to 100 mm per hour between Friday night and Saturday morning, the weather agency predicted.

By Sunday, some regions in South Chungcheong and North Jeolla Province could experience accumulated rain of up to 400 mm, while northern inland areas of North Gyeongsang Province may experience more than 300 mm of torrential rain.

Other parts of the country, including the broader Seoul region, Gangwon Province and Jeju Island, are expected to see rains between 30 mm and 250 mm by Sunday.

Flooded roads and homes, submerged cars, and landslides had been reported nationwide due to downpours as of Friday.

Heavy rains had also left some 4,000 households in Seoul without electricity and sent 136 people nationwide to evacuate as of 11 a.m.

Amid the continued rains overnight, more than 2,000 households in Seoul’s Seodaemun Ward were left without electricity after a falling tree cut off a high-voltage power line in the nearby area shortly after midnight, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

Another 2,000 households in Seoul’s Dobong Ward also experienced a power outage as a result of the downpour. Electricity at all of the affected households was back in service.

A total of 136 people across the country had been evacuated due to the heavy rains, including 77 in Seoul. Of them, 105 were still staying away from home due to concerns of additional rain damage.

A 68-year-old woman had remained unaccounted for as of Friday after she went missing in a swelling stream in the southern port city of Busan on Tuesday afternoon.

Four people were buried in a landslide caused by heavy rains in Nonsan, 152 km south of Seoul. They were rescued, but two of them — a wife in her 70s and husband in his 80s — were found in a state of cardiac arrest.

The disaster response headquarters called on regional governments to take preemptive measures to prevent landslides and evacuate residents in vulnerable areas.

Nearly 100 vessels across the nation had been grounded, while authorities called off 34 flights.

Nearly 250 hectares of farmland had also been reported submerged or damaged as of Friday.