South Korea President Orders All-Out Effort As Massive Floods Wreak Havoc, Toll Rises To 39

President Yoon convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and directed the concerned authorities to make the utmost effort to rescue victims.

South Korean soldiers carry a tube to pump water out of a tunnel along a road leading to an underground tunnel where some 15 cars were trapped in flood waters after heavy rains in Cheongju

Source : Getty

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered an all-out effort on Monday to handle the destruction caused by the massive floods ravaging parts of the nation. This comes as the toll due to torrential rain and floods rose to 39. Around a dozen people have been found dead in a submerged underpass till now. The Interior Ministry said nine people were missing at the moment and 34 were injured, according to the news agency Reuters. The heavy downpour has pummeled the nation's central and southern regions since Thursday making it tough for commuters to go from one place to another. President Yoon convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and directed the concerned authorities to make the utmost effort to rescue victims. He vowed support for the recovery work, including the designation of the affected areas as special disaster zones.

Ahead of a visit to flood-hit North Gyeongsang province on Monday, Yoon said: "This kind of extreme weather event will become commonplace - we must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it."

The idea that extreme weather linked to climate change "is an anomaly and can't be helped needs to be completely overhauled", he said, calling for "extraordinary determination" to improve the country's preparedness and response.

South Korea will "mobilise all available resources" including the military and police to help with rescue efforts, he said.

Twelve deaths, including three bodies retrieved overnight, occurred in a tunnel in the central city of Cheongju, where 16 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood on Saturday after a river levee collapsed. Nine others were hurt. As per Reuters, CCTV footage of the incident aired on local broadcaster MBC showed muddy water gushing into the tunnel as vehicles attempted to drive past it with their wheels remaining submerged. 

The incident fuelled questions over South Korea's efforts to prevent and respond to flood damage. Some drivers who use the road regularly blamed the government for failing to ban access to the underpass even though floods were widely forecast.

South Korean police said they would launch an investigation into the fatal flooding of the underpass in Cheongju.

More than 5,566 people across South Korea were forced to evacuate their homes and seek temporary shelter on Sunday, as per the Ministry. Around 8,300 households in four provinces of the nation are also experiencing power outages, CNN reported while citing Yonhap.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo directed the authorities on Sunday to evacuate those that live in landslide-prone regions. He has also directed the authorities to carry out rescue operations, reported CNN.

The country has been hit by heavy rainfall since 9 July, which has intensified in the past three days and is expected to continue in some regions until Sunday.