"41 dead and 9 missing"...The search ended with 14 dead in Osong

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said that as of 6 a.m. on the 18th, the number of deaths and missing in heavy rains was 50, the same as the previous day's 11 p.m. The search was terminated after the final 14 deaths related to the Osong Underpass accident, which was flooded by the burst of the Miho River embankment in Cheongju due to heavy rain.

An additional 41 people died in the Osong Underpass in North Chungcheong Province, including one body that was reported to police. The Osong Underpass accident ended its internal search as it found the body of the last missing person to be reported to police. The death toll in the underpass has been confirmed to be 14, and the underpass will be reopened after further searching nearby, analyzing the cause of the accident, and removing soil.

Search operations are still underway for the eight people who went missing in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, and the total number of missing people is nine nationwide, including one who went missing in Busan. The number of deaths and missing people reaching 50 is the highest in 12 years since 2011 (78).

The dead were 19 in North Gyeongsang Province, 17 in North Chungcheong Province, four in South Chungcheong Province and one in Sejong Province. Eight in North Gyeongsang Province and one in Busan are missing. The number of people temporarily evacuated due to the heavy rain amounted to 12,709 people from 8005 households in 123 cities and counties across 16 cities and provinces. Among them, 5,672 people from 3,771 households have yet to return home.

912 cases of damage to public facilities and 574 cases of private facilities were counted, mainly in Chungnam, Chungbuk, Gyeongbuk, and Jeonbuk. There are 157 cases of road slope loss and collapse, and 60 cases of road damage and loss. There are 131 cases of soil erosion and 159 cases of river control. There were also 274 houses inundated and 46 houses damaged.

The damage to crops is 26,9333.5 hectares (26,893.8 hectares in water and 39.7 hectares in Nakgwa), which is the combined area of 38,000 soccer fields (0.714 hectares). Agricultural land was lost, buried, and damaged 180.6 hectares. A total of 579,000 livestock, including 533,000 chickens, died.

187 roads, 797 riverside, 254 dunchi parking lots, 100 forest roads, and 489 national park trails were closed.

KTX has five lines (Gyeongbu, Honam, Jeolla, Gyeongbuk, and Gangneung lines) in operation, and two lines (central and central inland) have been suspended. Two regular trains (Daegu and Donghae lines) are in operation, and 11 lines (Gyeongbu, Jeolla, and Gyeongjeon lines) have been suspended. Some lines have been resumed since the 17th, but some roadbed losses have been found during the inspection, so they have stopped running again.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, heavy rain warnings are in effect in southern Gyeonggi Province, in the inland and mountainous areas of southern Gangwon Province, in the Chungcheong area, in the southern part of the country, and in Jeju Island. There will be strong rain of 10 to 30 millimeters per hour on the south coast of Jeollanam-do and Jeju Island, and there will be about 5 millimeters of rain or lull in other parts of the country.

The estimated precipitation from the 18th to the 19th is 100 to 200 millimeters (more than 250 millimeters in many places), southern Gyeonggi Province (18th), central and southern Gangwon Province, Ulleungdo Island, Dokdo 30 to 100 millimeters, Seoul, Incheon, northern Gyeonggi Province (18th), and Gangwon Province 5 to 60 millimeters.

From the 9th to 5 a.m., the cumulative precipitation during the main period was 632.0 mm in Gongju, Chungnam, 630.0 mm in Cheongyang, Chungnam, 589.5 mm in Sejong, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 537.5 mm in Boeun, Chungbuk, and 537.0 mm in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do.

Date: 2023-07-18

Reporter: 서화목