Flooding and traffic restrictions throughout Seoul due to heavy rain... 53.5 mm pouring per hour in Gangbuk-gu (comprehensive level 2)

On Sunday the 18th, heavy rain accompanied by strong winds fell in Seoul, causing rain damage throughout the city.

In particular, fallen leaves from strong winds blocked the drain, causing the road to flood in an instant. Gangbuk-gu once recorded the highest hourly rainfall in the country, with 53.5 mm of rain falling per hour.

The heavy rain advisory was lifted at 3:30 p.m., the rain subsided, and employees from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and autonomous districts were urgently deployed to carry out drainage work, resulting in no additional damage.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, as of 5 p.m. on this day, a total of 129 cases of damage were reported to the fire department, including 47 cases of drainage support, 21 cases of tree overturning, and 60 cases of other facility safety issues.

The city reported that the rain stopped afterward and reports of additional damage were minimal.

At 3:16 p.m. on this day, the city of Seoul announced through a heavy rain disaster text message, "There is a lot of rain and strong winds in Seoul," and "Please refrain from visiting low-lying areas or high-risk areas and be careful of accidents involving falling signs or other attachments."

As of 3:30 p.m., the heavy rain advisory issued for the northeast, northwest, and southwest of Seoul was lifted and the rain began to stop.

On this day, a flood forecast was issued for Eunpyeong-gu at 2:42 p.m., followed by Gangbuk-gu at 2:50 p.m. and Nowon-gu at 2:51 p.m.

As of 9 p.m., the cumulative precipitation was highest in Gangbuk at 75.5 mm, followed by Eunpyeong-gu at 68.0 mm, Seongbuk-gu at 65.0 mm, Dobong-gu at 64.0 mm, and Nowon-gu at 53.0 mm, with rain concentrated in the area north of the Han River.

As rainwater poured into the rivers, 29 rivers in Seoul, including Jungnangcheon, Yangjaecheon, Uicheon, and Seongbukcheon, were blocked.

As of 9 p.m., restrictions on most rivers except Cheonggyecheon and Seongbuk Stream have been lifted.

Road damage also occurred. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's traffic information system, at 3:04 p.m., the lower road of Jeungsangyo Bridge in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul was completely blocked due to flooding due to rainfall.

Yeongdeungpo-gu completely blocked the four-lane road in Yeongdeungpo 8-ga at 2:55 p.m. due to the risk of falling objects.

Breaking news was sent out warning people to watch out for rain and strong winds in several sections of the highway, including the Yangjae-Anseong section of the Gyeongbu Expressway and the Geumcheon-Seopyeongtaek section of the West Coast Expressway.

An accident occurred in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where a tree fell due to gusts of wind. This tree fell down in the middle of the road, obstructing vehicle and citizen traffic.

Near Yeonsinnae Station in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, roads were flooded and vehicles drove slowly. In some areas, the water rose up to knee level.

The flooding damage was interpreted as the result of fallen leaves blocking drainage channels, preventing smooth drainage. For this reason, in some flooded areas, nearby commercial owners or residents quickly picked up fallen leaves by hand.

The outdoor performance scheduled for that day was also canceled due to bad weather. Mint Paper, the organizer of the 'Grand Mint Festival' scheduled for that day at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, announced that it would issue a full refund, saying, "Due to the continued worsening weather, we decided that it was practically impossible to carry out the performance we had prepared." Mapo-gu also suspended the ‘Mapo Naru Shrimp Festival’ due to safety concerns due to rainy weather.

The city of Seoul operated 12 rainwater pumping stations in the city to drain cold water from roads. The city, which began working at level 1 at 2:40 p.m., switched to supplementary work at 5 p.m., and when the rain stopped, all status was lifted at 7 p.m. and returned to the peacetime system.

The city said that upon receiving the complaint, it immediately communicated closely with the relevant autonomous district and asked for their cooperation by ordering them to remove fallen leaves accumulated in the drain and to carry out drainage work on flooded areas.

An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government said, "Fortunately, the rain stopped in the afternoon and there is no rain forecast for tomorrow, so it appears that there will be no additional damage. This is thanks to the efforts of autonomous district employees who came to the site in the morning and worked hard to prevent rain damage."