Torrential rain alerts issued in Seoul area, expressways partly closed
Heavy rain alerts were issued across the broader Seoul area and parts of Gangwon and South Chungcheong provinces Thursday, with torrential downpours of up to 75 millimeters per hour pounding the northern Gyeonggi area overnight, Yonhap reports.
Hourly precipitation between 30 mm and 60 mm was forecast to further drench the regions where the heavy rain alerts were in place as of 4 a.m.
Northern areas of Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul were among the hardest hit, including Paju near the inter-Korean border, which received an hourly precipitation of 75.1 mm at one point early Thursday morning.
The accumulated rain in the Paju areas from midnight to 6 a.m. reached as much as 143.5 mm, leading to the suspension of Subway Line 1 services through the morning rush hour.
Paju received 593.5 mm of rain from Tuesday to early Thursday morning.
In Seoul, both sides of the Dongbu Expressway lanes linking the city to Gyeonggi were blocked due to heavy rain, while sections of the Naebu Expressway forming an outer ring around the city were also closed.
The entrances to 29 streams and four riverside parking lots in the capital were also blocked for safety concerns.
In the capital, the northern district of Nowon received the most rain, with an accumulation of 197 mm recorded from Tuesday to early Thursday morning.
The northeastern district of Seongbuk was hit with an hourly precipitation of 84 mm at one point the previous day.
No casualties have been reported from the latest bout of torrential rain, but several cases of rain damage were reported across the capital, including fallen trees along streets, flooded homes and traffic accidents caused by slippery roads.
The Korea Forest Service also raised its landslide alerts to the highest level of "serious" for Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi and Gangwon as of 7:30 a.m., advising people to evacuate promptly to safety in case of emergency.
Interior Minister Lee Sang-min ordered the mobilization of all possible personnel and resources to minimize rain damage as the ministry raised its readiness posture from "caution" to "vigilance."