South Korea braces for more torrential rains

Seoul, Aug 6 (IANS) Another round of heavy rains is expected to drench South Korea this week, with downpours of more than 120 millimetres expected in some parts of the country, the weather agency said Wednesday.

Northeastern areas of Gyeonggi Province and northern parts of Gangwon Province saw more than 80 mm of downpours Wednesday morning, with rainclouds forecast to travel southward in the afternoon, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

Around 30 to 100 mm of rain was expected in the greater Seoul area and parts of Gangwon Province and 30 to 80 mm in the provinces of Chungcheong and the country's southern regions, including Jeju Island, through Thursday.

According to forecasts, southeastern parts of Gyeonggi, southern inland parts of Gangwon and the southern provinces of Jeolla could receive over 120 mm of rain.

The KMA cautioned against using roads near streams as they could suddenly swell from the downpours.

With rain expected to soak the nation, the daily high Wednesday is expected to reach 28 to 34 degrees Celsius, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier on Monday, thousands in South Korea were forced to evacuate after heavy rains overnight pounded the nation's southern regions, leaving one dead and eight others injured.

A total of 2,559 people took refuge in the southern county of Sancheong due to the downpours that the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) described as a once-in-200-years event.

The KMA estimated that southern parts of the country received rainfall of about 50 to 200 millimetres.

A 60-something man was found dead after being swept by a torrent in the southwestern county of Muan, while eight others were injured the same day in a highway accident in nearby Damyang after a vehicle skidded into a traffic barrier due to the downpours.

The disaster headquarters had raised its emergency response operation level by one notch to Level 2 due to the heavy rains.

--IANS

int/jk/rs