Seoul, Aug 4 (IANS) Thousands in South Korea were forced to evacuate after heavy rains overnight pounded the nation’s southern regions, leaving one dead and eight others injured, authorities said Monday.
A total of 2,559 people took refuge in the southern county of Sancheong due to the downpours that the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) described as a once-in-200-years event.
The KMA estimated that southern parts of the country received rainfall of about 50 to 200 millimetres from Sunday to 7 a.m. Monday, with 250 mm of precipitation in some coastal areas of South Jeolla Province.
A 60-something man was found dead Sunday night after being swept by a torrent in the southwestern county of Muan, while eight others were injured the same day in a highway accident in nearby Damyang after a vehicle skidded into a traffic barrier due to the downpours.
The disaster headquarters raised its emergency response operation level by one notch to Level 2 at 11 p.m. Sunday due to the heavy rains.
The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast heavy rain nationwide Monday, with downpours set to continue in South Gyeongsang and nearby areas.
Precipitation of 5 to 10 mm is expected for Seoul, Incheon and western parts of Gyeonggi Province from Monday to early Tuesday morning, while downpours of 30 to 80 mm are expected for Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang, with some areas receiving more than 120 mm of rain, Yonhap news agency reported.
Heat wave alerts have been lifted in some areas due to the downpours, with temperatures expected to reach highs of 29 to 34 degrees Celsius on Monday.
As of August 3, a total of 19 people had died from heat-related illnesses in South Korea so far this year as the country endured severe heat waves.
More than 3,100 patients had visited emergency rooms for heat-related conditions as of Wednesday since mid-May, when authorities launched the heat-related illness surveillance system, and 19 had died, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Compared with the same period last year, the number of patients and deaths had more than doubled, KDCA had added.
The number of tropical nights in Seoul in July was tallied at a record high of 23.
–IANS
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