Heavy rains flood southern South Korea, prompting emergency alerts

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- Heavy rains battered the southern region Sunday, flooding roads and trapping hikers in mountains while prompting disaster alerts in several regions.

The southwestern county of Yeonggwang received 206 millimeters of rain between midnight Saturday and 9 p.m. Sunday, while the southern county of Boseong received 164 mm, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

Boseong, in particular, received 124.6 mm of rain in an hour starting at 6:20 p.m., surpassing the 124.5 mm hourly precipitation seen in the southeastern city of Geoje during heavy rainfall on Aug. 17.

Earlier Sunday, five people were rescued by firefighters after getting trapped by swelling valley water in the southwestern county of Yeongam.

Another 11 people were rescued after valley water overflowed into roads in the nearby county of Hwasun.

An emergency text message was sent out in Yeonggwang at 1:44 p.m. under a new system that alerts residents when 100 mm of rain is detected in an hour, among other conditions.

The combined firefighting headquarters for South Jeolla Province and Gwangju had reported a total of 92 cases of rain-related damage as of 9 p.m.

In Busan, multiple walking trails were closed amid localized heavy rains.

No casualties have been reported.

More heavy rain is forecast for the entire nation Monday, including 30-80 mm in Seoul, Incheon and northern Gyeonggi Province.