Government designates 13 areas as disaster zones after rains

Thirteen areas were designated as special disaster zones on Wednesday, making them eligible for emergency relief for last week’s heavy downpours.

Firefighters and members of the Marine Corps search through a stream in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang, on Wednesday after a Marine lance corporal was swept away by strong currents that morning. [YONHAP]

Thirteen areas were designated as special disaster zones on Wednesday, making them eligible for emergency relief for last week’s heavy downpours.

They were Sejong; Cheongju and Goesan County in North Chungcheong; Nonsan, Gongju, Cheongyang County and Buyeo County in South Chungcheong; Iksan and Juksan-myeon of Gimje in North Jeolla; and Yecheon County, Bonghwa County, Yeongju and Mungyeong in North Gyeongsang.

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said the designated areas will receive funding from the central government for restoration work and stimulus checks for their residents.

As of Wednesday at 6 p.m., there still were four people missing from last week’s flooding and landslides, including three in Yecheon.

The other missing person has been identified as a woman in her 60s who went missing in Busan on July 11.

At least two additional bodies were discovered on Wednesday, both in Yecheon.

A total of 46 deaths had been counted in connection to last week’s rains as of Wednesday at 6 p.m. — 24 in North Gyeongsang, followed by 17 in North Chungcheong, four in South Chungcheong and one in Sejong.

Thirty-five people were injured.

A Marine lance corporal in his 20s was swept away by strong currents on Wednesday morning while searching for the missing people in Yecheon and has yet to be found, officials from the Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters and Marine Corps said.

Authorities said the Marine, who had been dispatched to Yecheon on Tuesday for the search and rescue operation, was searching around Naeseong Stream with his comrades when he suddenly fell into the water with two other Marines.

The other two managed to swim to safety.

The Marines were among 3,630 people deployed to Yecheon on Wednesday for the rescue mission, which included firefighters, police and military personnel. Some 1,140 pieces of equipment were also mobilized, such as excavators and dump trucks.

With torrential rains once again anticipated to fall in the country’s central and southern regions on Saturday and Sunday, authorities are hoping to find all missing people by Friday.

About 100 to 200 millimeters (3.9 to 7.9 inches) of rain is forecast to fall in the same areas most severely affected last week, with some areas potentially receiving over 300 millimeters, according to the national weather agency.

Across the country, many local government offices are canceling or postponing their summer festivals as a gesture of mourning for the victims.

In Seoul, which didn’t count any casualties, the Jongno District Office said it would postpone a street festival that was planned for this week to next month.

A beer festival in Daejeon has also been delayed. Daejeon is near Cheongju, where 14 people died in an underpass that was submerged by a flooded river on Saturday morning, which trapped 17 vehicles inside, including a bus.

Search efforts at the tunnel officially wrapped up on Monday night, shortly after the 14th body was found.

The Yecheon County Office said it would cancel all festivities until restoration work has been completed.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]