1 person missing as heavy rain pounds southern regions

Seoul, Monsoon rains will continue to drench much of the nation until late Wednesday, as heavy downpours have left one person missing, and many houses and roads inundated in the southern regions, the state weather agency said. As of 8 a.m., 5 to 20 mm of rain per hour had been pouring in the southern regions, including North Jeolla Province, and parts of North and South Gyeongsang provinces, where a heavy rain warning has been issued, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said, YONHAP reported. The downpours will continue in the region during the daytime, showering 10 to 40 mm of rainfall per hour, while the South Gyeongsang Province and the southern part of North Gyeongsang Province are expected to receive up to 50 mm of heavy rain. It will start raining again in the rest of the region during the morning, excluding parts of South Jeolla Province and the Gyeongsang provinces, which will see the downpours come to a lull until nighttime. Police and firefighters mobilized 21 pieces of equipment and 9 3 personnel to search for a woman in her 40s reported missing in Gyeongsan, 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after being swept away by floodwater at around 5 a.m. In the southeastern city of Daegu, four cars were waterlogged on the streets, and one person was stranded inside a house after a sewage backflow late Monday before being rescued by firefighters. In North Gyeongsang Province, 34 people were rescued by firefighters from Sunday until 6 a.m. Tuesday, and firefighting services received 224 reports in total, including 73 cases of home flooding and 64 cases of road disruptions. Four people were rescued in nearby Daegu from 5 p.m. Monday to Tuesday morning, officials said. The downpours are forecast to continue until late Wednesday, bringing a total of 30 to 80 mm of rainfall to much of the nation, while the southern Gyeonggi Province, the central region, and parts of Gangwon Province and the southern regions will see more than 120 mm of rain during this time. The greater Seoul area and central regio ns will receive torrential rain of up to 50 mm per hour overnight until the following morning. Meanwhile, heat will batter the southern resort island of Jeju, with the apparent temperatures soaring up to 33 C until Wednesday, and over 35 C in the island's northern and eastern regions. The daily highs are expected to hover around 25 to 30 C. The daytime temperatures in major cities had recorded 23.5 C in Seoul, 23.9 C in Daejeon, 24.6 C in Gwangju and 25.2 C in Busan as of 8 a.m. Source: Bahrain News Agency