2 dead, about 1,000 evacuated as torrential rains hit central regions

Two people have died and about 1,000 residents were evacuated as torrential rains slammed parts of the nation's central regions, authorities said Thursday, as they warned of more downpours in the coming days. As a rain front showed signs of moving northward, the government's disaster response authorities put the Chungcheong provinces and southern part of Gyeonggi Province on the second-highest alert level. On Wednesday, a retaining wall collapsed onto a moving vehicle in the city of Osan, 52 kilometers south of Seoul, killing the driver. In Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, a man was found in cardiac arrest inside a flooded vehicle on a road at around 3:59 a.m. Thursday and was transported to a nearby hospital but died. Two minor injuries, including hypothermia, were also reported in Seosan and Buyeo. Since Wednesday evening, as much as 344 mm of rain has fallen in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, the hardest-hit area, according to weather officials. In Seosan, 114.9 mm of rain fell in just one hour between 1:46 a.m. and 2:46 a.m., recording the highest hourly rainfall for July sinceWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times