The record rainfall and flooding in Seoul has left incalculable damage to people and property.
On August 8, Seoul, the capital of South Korea and many neighboring areas such as Incheon city, Gyeonggi province suffered the heaviest rain in 80 years. The average rainfall is up to 100mm/hour and in a district of Seoul, it even reached over 140mm/hour at some point.
Heavy and continuous rain caused heavy flooding in many areas. By the morning of August 10, South Korean officials reported that at least 9 people had died, 7 people were missing and more than 2,500 houses were flooded, not to mention the damage to facilities including roads, railways and subways.
Notably, among the victims killed in the record rainfall, there were heartbreakingly tragic cases. In Gwanak district, Seoul, three members of a family, including two adults and a 13-year-old child, died after being trapped in a semi-basement apartment.
Victims in semi-basement apartments
According to the Seoul police, the three people found dead in the flooded semi-basement apartment include a 47-year-old woman, her sister with a developmental disability and her 13-year-old daughter. The 73-year-old woman of the family fortunately escaped and is currently receiving treatment at a local hospital. They lived in a halfway underground apartment at the foot of a villa in Gwanak, one of the most flooded areas in Seoul that day.
According to locals, due to the flood water rising too quickly, the entrance door was stuck and could not be opened, causing 3 people to die tragically.
Earlier, the 47-year-old woman contacted a friend to call the police, but due to the high water level and limited traffic in Seoul, the police were unable to respond in time.
Neighbors also ran to help but failed. “We tried to break the window to save them, but the water rose so fast, it flooded the entire apartment in seconds,” a person living nearby described the incident.
In Korea, semi-basement apartments (banjiha in Korean) are familiar to low-income people. Semi-basement apartments are often small, cramped, lack sunlight, and are exposed to pollutants from the ground. This living space has been shown in many Korean dramas and films, notably the Oscar-winning 2020 film “Parasite”.
Not abandoning her pets amid flooding, a woman passed away
A middle-aged woman in Dongjak district, Seoul who also lived in a semi-basement apartment, was also reportedly drowned by the flood. Her apartment has a veranda that is one meter lower than the street and is described as “a structure where water can flow at any time”.
Amid the rainfall, the woman’s apartment was also locked due to the pressure of water. However, the woman was lucky to escape at first, but remembered that her cat was still inside, so she rushed back to save it. Unfortunately, the woman and her cat could no longer leave the basement and died.
According to a woman who lives nearby, the victim initially managed to get her dog out, but then decided to go back in to save the cat. The heartbreaking incident has touched many people.
Although rainfall has decreased for now, meteorological forecasters in South Korea say heavy rains will continue in the coming days in flooded areas, possibly up to 300mm until August 11.
More than 500 people have been evacuated since heavy rains hit Seoul on the night of August 8, with the government providing tents, blankets and other supplies to help. Meanwhile, authorities are continuing to deploy cleanup and rescue services, and the fire department had rescued 145 people as of August 10.
About 2,800 structures, including houses, stores, retaining walls and other infrastructure, have been damaged, but most have been repaired as of August 10, according to the Interior Ministry Weld.
Several areas south of the Han River were hardest hit, including the rich neighborhood Gangnam, where several buildings and shops were flooded and power was lost during the rainfall.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol offered his condolences to the victims on August 9, saying he would conduct a spot check and work hard to prevent further damage. He also pointed to the need to rethink the country’s disaster management system, as extreme weather is expected to become increasingly common due to the climate crisis.
