Damage mounts in South Korea as torrential rains enter fourth day
SEOUL : Torrential rains that lashed South Korea for a fourth day on Saturday kept nearly 3,000 people from returning to their homes, while livestock were stranded up to the neck in rising waters as the death toll reached four with two missing, authorities said.
Rain will last until Monday in some areas, weather officials said, urging extreme caution against the risk of landslides and flooding, with warnings across most of the nation.
By 6am on Saturday, 2,816 people were still out of their homes, the interior ministry said, from a total of more than 7,000 evacuated during the prior days of heavy rain, in which four have died and two are missing.
Rainfall since Wednesday reached a record of more than 500mm (20 inches) at Seosan, in the South Chungcheong province south of the capital Seoul, it added.
Elsewhere in the province cows were desperately trying to keep their heads above water after sheds and stables flooded.
The tally of water-damaged structures stood at more than 641 buildings, 388 roads and 59 farms, the ministry said.
Rains were also expected in neighbouring North Korea.
From Sunday to Tuesday, 150mm to 200mm (6 inches to 8 inches) of rain could fall in some northern areas, rising to 300mm (12 inches) in some remote regions, the weather agency said, according to state newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Free Malaysia Today
829km lightning megaflash sets new world record
The World Meteorological Organization wants everyone to be covered by advanced early-warning systems for hazardous weather events by the end of 2027 – lightning included. (Envato Elements pic) GENEVA : A new world record for the longest distance lightning flash was declared on Thursday – a megaflash that stretched for 829km across the United States in 2017. The huge flash occurred on Oct 22 that year from eastern Texas to near Kansas City, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced. The weather agency said the megaflash underlined the epic power of lightning – and how flashes can pose dangers far from the original storm. The previous record, also observed in the US, happened on April 29, 2020 between Mississippi and Texas, with a lightning flash of 768km. It was certified as a record in 2022. Both the previous and new records have a margin of error of plus or minus 8km. The 2017 storm produced several huge flashes: three were analysed and were enough to formulate a ground-breaking definition of 'megaflash lightning'. Going back and re-examining the data from the landmark storm led to the discovery of a hitherto overlooked megaflash that was bigger than the one in 2020. 'Lightning can travel quite long distances away from the parent thunderstorm,' Randall Cerveny, the WMO's spokesperson for weather and climate extremes, told AFP. 'That is why some people talk of a 'bolt from the blue' – a lightning flash that seemingly comes out of the clear sky.' Cerveny, a professor of geographical sciences at Arizona State University, established the WMO's World Weather and Climate Extremes Archive in 2007. It logs global records for temperature, pressure, rainfall, hail, aridity, wind, lightning and weather-related mortality. An 11-member committee of experts based in the US, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Nepal, Israel certified the new record. Satellite-based lightning mapping has only been up and running since 2016 – too short a timeframe to determine patterns or trends in intensity, location or frequency. 'Give us another decade or so of data and we can start to address that,' Cerveny told AFP. Deadly source of wonder The WMO said the new findings highlighted the dangers posed by lightning storms. The agency is pushing for everyone on the planet to be fully covered by advanced early-warning systems for hazardous weather events by the end of 2027 – lightning included. 'Lightning is a source of wonder but also a major hazard that claims many lives around the world every year,' said WMO chief Celeste Saulo. The WMO's three other lightning records are:
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan sees new record high temperature of 41.2°C
Japan's summer last year was the joint-hottest on record, equalling the level seen in 2023. (EPA Images pic) TOKYO : Japan sweltered in a new record temperature of 41.2°C today, with the mercury also hitting 40°C in the ancient capital of Kyoto for the first time since observations began. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as climate change creates ever more erratic weather patterns, and Japan is no exception. Today's new record in the western region of Hyogo surpassed the previous high of 41.1°C seen in Hamamatsu in 2020 and Kumagaya in 2018, the weather office said. The record comes on a day Japan was also on high alert for tsunamis after a massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Far East Russia. In tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40°C, the first time any of its observation points – the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 – had seen such a high, authorities said. Japan's summer last year was the joint hottest on record, equalling the level seen in 2023, followed by the warmest autumn since records began 126 years ago. The Japanese government has issued heatstroke warnings to a large swathe of the archipelago in recent days as temperatures topped 35°C at hundreds of observation points. Yesterday, the temperature hit 35°C or higher at 322 of 914 observation points nationwide, reportedly the highest number since comparative data became available in 2010. New highs were set in 38 locations, including Gujo in Gifu prefecture in central Japan, which reached 39.8°C, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. The heatwave is forecast to continue, the JMA said, warning of a 'significant' rise in temperature in northern and eastern regions. 'Please take care of your health including (avoiding) heatstroke,' it said. Heatstroke A total of 10,804 people in Japan were sent to hospital due to heatstroke last week, the highest weekly figure this year. In total 16 people died, the fire and disaster management agency said. The number is the highest this year, surpassing the previous record of 10,053 people hospitalised in the week from June 30 to July 6. Every summer, Japanese officials urge the public to seek shelter in air-conditioned rooms to avoid heatstroke. The elderly in Japan – which has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco – are particularly at risk. Western Europe saw its hottest June on record last month, as extreme temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, according to the EU climate monitor Copernicus. Dangerous temperatures stretched into July, with separate research estimating that climate change made the heat up to 4°C hotter, pushing the thermometer into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people and greatly worsening the projected death toll. Millions were exposed to high heat stress as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before – and never so early in the summer. Several countries recorded surface temperatures above 40°C, with heat of up to 46°C in Spain and Portugal, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
10 confirmed dead after bus accident in north China
Torrential rain and floods in swathes of northern China have killed at least 48 people. (AFP pic) BEIJING : Ten people have been confirmed dead after a bus went missing on Sunday in China's northern Shanxi province, as heavy rain lashed the region this week, state media said today. Torrential rain and floods in swathes of northern China have killed at least 48 people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands this week. Dozens of roads were closed, villages lost electricity and homes were submerged due to the rainstorms. The 10 people found dead had been riding a bus on Sunday morning when it went missing in the city of Datong, the official Xinhua news agency said. Search efforts will continue for four people still missing, it added. One body had been discovered downstream in the area, Xinhua reported on Sunday. The downpour has killed 30 people in Beijing, with the death toll highest in Miyun, a northeastern suburb. And in Hebei province, which encircles the capital, a landslide in a village killed eight people, with four still missing, state broadcaster CCTV said yesterday. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.
