4 killed in South Korea, as country battered by rain seen ‘once every 200 years’
- South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but is typically well-prepared, and the death toll is usually low
Parts of South Korea were battered by record rainfall typically seen just once every 200 years, the country’s weather agency said on Wednesday, with the interior ministry reporting four dead.
“Three regions saw rainfall at the highest level, the probability of which is seen about every 200 years,” an official from South Korea’s meteorological agency said.
Three areas – Geumsan in South Chungcheong, Chupungnyeong in North Chungcheong and Gunsan in North Jeolla – experienced some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record, weather department data showed.
“This is not calculated based on past records,” a spokesperson from the agency said, adding that full records began in 1904.
“When the intensity of precipitation is calculated by region, it shows that such an event would be expected to occur once in 200 years.”
In Gunsan, 131.7mm (5 inches) of rain fell within one hour early on Wednesday – more than 10 per cent of the area’s average annual precipitation.