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Central regions lashed by monsoon

Rain causes killer landslides, floods

서울 강우량 151㎜…침수피해 잇따라

June 30, 2011


	A man crosses a flooded road in Incheon yesterday as torrential rain hit Seoul and the central region of the Korean Peninsula. [YONHAP]

More than 170 millimeters (6.7 inches) of rain flooded roads and inundated houses in Seoul and Gyeonggi yesterday, killing a driver buried in a sudden landslide and washing away a Korean tourist, who remains missing.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast that the heavy monsoon rain will continue through today and Seoul will receive 200 millimeters of additional downpour. Some regions will have thunderstorms.

According to police, at around 1 p.m., about 1,500 tons of earth fell from Mount Choan in Nowon District, northern Seoul, and buried three cars driving on a road. One of the car’s drivers, a man surnamed Yu, 46, was killed in his Hyundai Grandeur sedan. The two other drivers and one passenger were injured.

About 230 rescue workers struggled to extricate the people from three meters of earth and rubble, police said. The landslide covered 20 meters (65 feet) of road.

“My son, who was sitting in the passenger seat beside me, saw the earth being washed towards us and opened the car door and escaped,” an injured driver surnamed Kim told the media yesterday. “But when I was trying to loosen my seatbelt, a massive amount of earth engulfed the car and reached my neck. I had to wriggle my way loose from the seatbelt.”

Korea Railroad workers were working on the mountain at the time.

“We think when the workers were digging, some earth got loose and slid down to the road below,” a rescue worker told reporters.

The landslide also hit rail lines located between the mountain and the road. Trains running between Wolgye and Nokcheon stations on line No. 1 were suspended but resumed operation last evening.

In Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, a 36-year-old tourist surnamed Dong was swept away by the flooded Jochong Stream at around 6 a.m. Rescue workers haven’t found his body.

A temporary residence for factory workers in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, was also hit by a landslide at around 11:30 a.m. and collapsed. A worker surnamed Mun, whose age was not reported, sustained a serious head injury during the collapse and was taken to the hospital.

“People should beware of sudden landslides or collapses of embankments,” an official at the weather agency said.

According to the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Jamsu Bridge, a bridge connecting Seobinggo-dong and Banpo-dong, was almost submerged by seven-meter-high flooding of the Han River. Five roads leading to the bridge were blocked.

Dams in the upper Han River are releasing their waters. Paldang Dam, which opened its five floodgates yesterday, released about 8,448 cubic meters (298,000 cubic feet) of water per second, while the Cheongpyeong Dam released 2,366 cubic meters per second.

North Korea also opened the floodgates of its Hwanggang Dam on the Imjin River, Monday night. It didn’t warn Seoul. A military official said the discharge was in violation of an inter-Korean agreement to prevent flood damage. No damage was reported as a result of the North’s discharge.

According to the weather agency, Seoul and Incheon received about 170 millimeters of rain. There was 229 millimeters in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi; 206 in Namyangju, Gyeonggi; 185 in Seongnam, Gyeonggi; 175 in Anyang, Gyeonggi; and 145 in Chuncheon, Gangwon.

By Kim Hee-jin [ heejin@joongang.co.kr]

서울 강우량 151㎜…침수피해 잇따라

서울을 비롯한 수도권에 29일 오전 150㎜에 이르는 많은 비가 내리면서 곳곳에서 침수 피해가 잇따랐다.

서울시 재난안전대책본부에 따르면 이날 오전 11시 현재 서울 전역에서 106건의 침수 피해신고가 접수됐다. 소방재난본부는 피해가 확인된 46곳에 인력을 보내 복구작업을 벌이고 있다.

오전 11시 현재 서울지역 강우량은 151.5㎜다.

도로 곳곳도 물에 잠겨 영동 1교~KT 구간인 양재천로 하부 도로와 개화 육갑문(올림픽도로~방화동), 증산 지하차도가 현재 차량 통행이 통제된 상태다.

팔당댐이 초당 6천t가량을 방류하면서 잠수교 수위는 오전 11시 현재 5.98ｍ를 기록, 보행자 통행이 제한됐다. 수위가 6.2ｍ 이상이면 차량 통행도 제한된다.

청계천은 무학교 기준으로 오전 11시 현재 수위가 220㎝에 이르렀고, 청계광장에서 황학로에 이르는 산책로 가운데 3분의2 가량이 전날 밤부터 계속된 비로 침수돼 서울시가 산책로 전 구간을 통제하고 있다.

이날 출근시간대에 장대비가 쏟아지면서 서울 남대문로와 청계천로, 종로 등 서울 도심 일대에서는 출근길 차량들이 시속 20~30㎞로 서행, 정체를 빚었다.

올림픽대로와 강변북로, 남부순환로 등 간선도로의 일부 구간을 비롯해 강남 반포로와 테헤란로 등에서도 차량 통행이 지체됐다.

출근길 시민들은 우산을 받쳐 들고 종종걸음을 쳤으며 지하철과 버스 등 대중교통은 우산이나 비옷을 들고 나온 직장인들로 크게 붐볐다.

재난안전대책본부는 앞서 이날 오전 5시를 기해 서울지역에 호우경보가 내리자 2단계 비상근무 체제에 돌입했다.