Torrential rain wreaks havoc on Seoul, leaves 4,000 households without power

Olympic-daero in Seoul is closed Friday morning due to the city river’s rising water level. (Yonhap)

Two days of torrential downpours and fierce winds have battered major parts of Seoul, leaving 4,000 households without power and major motorways closed as the city grapples with the onslaught of rough weather.

Electricity outages swept Seodaemun-gu’s Hongje-dong in Seoul late Thursday around midnight, after a falling tree downed a high-voltage power line in the area, leaving more than 2,000 households without electricity overnight, according to the central government headquarters in charge of disaster management. Korea Electric Power Corp., the state-run power utility, is currently working to fix the outage, it added.

In addition, the power outage disrupted another 2,000 households in Dobong-gu, northeastern Seoul, due to heavy rainfall at night. As of Friday morning, electricity in most parts was back in service.

Power in Geumcheon-gu’s Siheung-dong in southwestern Seoul was also interrupted due to continued severe weather and lightning strikes.

Thirty-eight households -- for a total of 79 people -- had also been evacuated overnight.

Heavy rainfall caused the collapse of the expressway embankment in Seodaemun-gu’s Yeonhui-dong in western Seoul, on Thursday at around 9:45 p.m., leading to the emergency evacuation of 46 residents late at night. Seoul’s underground dwellers in semibasement homes, known as “banjiha,” were also evacuated. No casualties were reported.

Amid heavy rainfall overnight, houses in Gwangjin-gu’s Junggok-dong, Gangdong-gu’s Amsa-dong, Eunpyeong-gu’s Bulgwang-dong and Seongbuk-gu’s Seongbuk-dong suffered from damage to retaining walls, in turn causing severe property damage.

Also, landslide warnings were issued to residents in Nowon-gu, northern Seoul, at 4:46 a.m. Friday due to continued rain overnight. The warnings were lifted at 7:09 a.m.

Following the downpours, major highways across Seoul were partly closed overnight as rain raised the water level of the Han River that flows through the capital city.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said that Olympic-daero, Jamsu Bridge linking the southern and northern parts of the city and lower roads under the Yangjae Stream Yeongdong 1 Bridge and the Yangjae Cheon Bridge had been closed from Friday at 7:45 a.m. due to the weather.

The city government’s Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Bureau also informed people to check the traffic situation and the forecast before traveling.

Meanwhile, a wet weekend is expected across the metropolitan area, as heavy rains will likely continue with lightning and thunderstorms. According to the weather agency, heavy rain of as much as 30 to 80 millimeters per hour will hit Greater Seoul over the weekend.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday instructed the government to make all-out efforts to disasters caused by heavy rains during an emergency response meeting, underscoring that focusing on preventing casualties should be the highest priority.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)