Four dead, 1,300 evacuated as heavy rain drenches country

Four people have died and more than 1,300 evacuated as torrential rain pounds South Korea, with authorities warning that the unseasonal deluge will continue.

Among those killed were two men in their 80s. Authorities believe one of them was trying to drain floodwaters from the basement of his home.

A third victim was crushed when a wall collapsed onto his car. Moments before, he’d called his wife to say the vehicle was “being swept away”, authorities say. The fourth victim died of a cardiac arrest.

“I couldn’t understand how something like this could happen,” says Kim Ha-min, a cafe owner in the city of Gwangju. She says this is the first time she has experienced such heavy rain.

The record rainfall has prompted South Korea’s government to raise the weather-related disaster alert to its highest level.

“Everything is covered by water except the roof [of my house],” a resident in one of the affected areas wrote online.

More than 400mm of rain poured down in just half a day in Seosan, the worst-affected city, along the country’s west coast – the weather agency described it as a once-in-a-century event.

Photos and videos on social media show vehicles and homes submerged, with pieces of furniture floating in the water.

Ms Kim in Gwangju, which recorded 426mm of rainfall on Thursday, said she was scared because “I’ve never seen a flood here before, since there is no stream or river in this neighbourhood”.

The 26-year-old had to shut her cafe after it was inundated by floodwaters: “I drained the water, but the smell from the sewers is so bad that I can’t open for business.”

Several injuries were reported across the country, including two people suffering from hypothermia and two others who sustained leg injuries.

As of 16:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Thursday, more than 1,300 people had been evacuated.

Authorities have urged people to stay away from riverbanks, steep slopes and underground spaces, warning that the risk of landslides and flash floods remains high.

Dry air from the north-west mixed with hot and humid air from the south to form especially large rain clouds, South Korea’s meteorological administration says.

But forecasters expect high temperatures to return next week, with the possibility of a heatwave.