K-pop concert canceled, roads flooded as rain, wind pummel Korea

Overnight rain and strong winds caused widespread damage nationwide, toppling trees, damaging building exteriors and canceled events over the weekend. The end of the monsoon season now depends on the trajectory of Typhoon Gaemi.

Firefighters work to remove water from a flooded road in Yeongam, South Jeolla, on Sunday. [YEONGAM FIRE STATION]

Rain and strong winds led to widespread damage nationwide, toppling trees, damaging building exteriors and interrupting events over the weekend. The end of the monsoon season now depends on the trajectory of Typhoon Gaemi.

The metropolitan area saw heavy rain and strong wind on Sunday morning, including a fallen street tree blocking a road in Gangseo District, western Seoul, at 4:47 a.m. and exterior debris falling from a five-story multi-unit house in Yeonnam-dong, Mapo District, western Seoul, around 2:50 a.m. Sunday.

On Saturday night, singer Psy stopped his annual water festival and concert "SUMMERSWAG2024" in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, mid-performance due to heavy rain, his agency P Nation said Sunday.

The event was halted due to worsening weather conditions in the region, with banners flying away and a 5-meter-high lighting installation falling, though no injuries were reported.

Lights fall to the stage due to the weather during singer's Psy's summer concert ″Summer Swag 2024″ held on July 20 in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

"It was an unexpected situation I had never experienced before," Psy wrote on Instagram on Saturday. He thanked visitors for handling the situation calmly and mentioned possible refunds and a re-performance.

In South Jeolla, roads were flooded, and people were stranded due to rainfall reaching up to 67 millimeters (2.6 inches) per hour early Sunday morning. Boseong County experienced the heaviest rainfall, with 95.5 millimeters recorded from midnight to 8 a.m. Sunday.

Heavy rain alerts were in effect for thirteen cities and counties in the province early Sunday morning but were lifted by 6:30 a.m. the same day.

Three people in a car were rescued from a flooded road in Yeongam District around 4 a.m. Firefighters also rescued five individuals stranded in nearby facilities. According to fire authorities, 27 cases of heavy rain damage were reported in South Jeolla on Sunday.

July saw record-breaking rainfall in several regions. Paju in Gyeonggi and Andong in North Gyeongsang set records for the heaviest rain in a single day in July.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), Paju received 385.7 millimeters of rain on Wednesday, the highest in one day in July since weather observations began in December 2001. Andong in North Gyeongsang received 211.2 millimeters on July 8, setting new July records.

Following the severe heavy rain and the resulting damage, the presidential office held an emergency meeting on Sunday morning to address the situation. Presided over by Sung Tae-yoon, chief of staff for policy, ministers from related departments reviewed restoration efforts and strategies for managing crop supplies.

In the meeting, the government decided to designate additional special disaster areas, supplementing the already designated five, to provide financial aid and expedite restoration efforts. Plans also include stabilizing crop supplies by quickly assessing farmers' eligibility for disaster insurance and providing 50 percent of estimated coverage in advance.

While the monsoon season, which started on Jeju Island on June 19 and typically lasts about 32 days, seems to be nearing its end, the KMA stated in a briefing on Sunday that it is too early to predict its conclusion due to the development of Typhoon Gaemi.

Typhoon Gaemi formed on Saturday from a tropical depression east of the Philippines. Although it is unlikely to hit the Korean Peninsula directly, uncertainty regarding its direction and speed adds unpredictability to the upcoming weather.

The typhoon is heading north, pushing the North Pacific anticyclone northward and with it, the stationary front, which unleashes monsoon rains. However, if the typhoon takes a sudden turn, it could also alter the path of the stationary front.

According to KMA's forecasts on Sunday, Daegu and some areas of North Gyeongsang are expected to receive rain on Monday, followed by a nationwide lull in downpours on Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to reach a scorching 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in areas without rain.

Nationwide heatwaves and showers are expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]