Due to severe rain that produced landslides and flash floods, 26 people have perished in South Korea, and hundreds more people have had to leave their homes.
According to the nation’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety, nine people have been hurt by the rain, while ten more are still unaccounted for.
According to the government, 16 fatalities were reported in the nation’s North Gyeongsang province, which is located on the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast. Landslides killed the majority of those people there.
Public roads, houses and farm fields have also been damaged by the severe flooding, it added.
In the South Chungcheong Province city of Nonsan, two people died Friday after their building collapsed due to a landslide, YonhapNews Agencyreported.
Across South Korea, more than 5,566 people were forced to evacuate their homes and seek temporary shelter as of early Sunday, the ministry said. In addition, some 8,300 households in four provinces are experiencing power outages, according to Yonhap.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo ordered authorities to evacuate those in landslide-prone regions and to carry out rescue efforts, according to the South Korean news agency.
Last year, the South Korean capital Seoul logged record downpours that inundated homes, roads and subways, killing at least nine people.
Scientists have warned the frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall is increasing across East Asia as the human-caused climate crisis accelerates the probability of extreme weather events.
The newest round of heavy rains in South Korea come just days after devastating floods wreaked havoc in neighboring Japan, killing at least six people and injuring 19.
Torrential rain in southwestern Japan prompted the country’s weather agency to issue emergency warnings at the start of the week for the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures, on Kyushu, the country’s third largest island.
Earlier this month, heavy downpours also caused flooding in southwest China, killing at least 15 people in the city of Chongqing.