Record-setting heavy rain hit Seoul and surrounding areas Monday night and Tuesday morning, wreaking havoc across the region. The rainfall — the highest amount recorded in Seoul in 115 years — left several dead and displaced hundreds. Severe flooding occurred in many parts of the capital, leading to significant infrastructure and property damage.
Heavy rain is expected to continue until Friday in Seoul and throughout the capital region, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Tuesday. The rainfall on Monday was the highest in 115 years since weather observations began in Seoul in 1907. The daily and hourly precipitation both broke previous records.
The peak one-hour rainfall recorded in Dongjak-gu, southern Seoul, on Monday night was 141.5 millimeters, dwarfing the districts previous record of 118.6 millimeters in 1942. The daily rainfall recorded was 381.5 millimeters, also higher than the previous record for Dongjak-gu of 332.8 millimeters in 1998.
However, it will not be included in the official record because the data came from the observation of a regional office of the Korea Meteorological Administration in Sindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu. The representative weather value for the city comes from the Seoul Weather Station in Songwol-dong, Jongno-gu.
This heavy rain was accompanied by lightning, which struck the metropolitan area more than 2,000 times, the previous night. In Gwanak-gu, southern Seoul, three people — a 13-year-old and two adults in their 40s — died after they were trapped in a semi-basement apartment.
A 60-something district office employee died while cleaning up tree branches that had fallen in the storm. The cause of death is thought to be electrocution. In Dongjak-gu, one person died after his house flooded. In Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, one person was found dead under a collapsed bus stop, and another person was killed in a roadside landslide. In Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, another died at 4:27 a.m. due to a landslide.
There were 391 people displaced by flooding in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province as of 1 p.m. on Tuesday. They were provided shelter at nearby schools and community centers.
