Heavy Rainfall in the Capital Region Leads to Traffic Restrictions and Flood Warnings
On the 13th, as heavy rain fell in the Capital Region, the Seoul City announced a complete closure of the Eastern Urban Expressway.
Currently, three roads are under restriction. The Jeungsan Bridge lower road was closed starting at 11:25 AM, the Gaehwa-dong Road Gaehwa Underpass from 11:53 AM, and the Eastern Urban Expressway (both directions) from 12:04 PM.
A heavy rain advisory was issued for the northeastern, southwestern, and northwestern areas of Seoul at 6:30 AM. The southwestern area was raised to a heavy rain warning at 10:30 AM, followed by the northeastern and northwestern areas at 11:00 AM.
Upon the issuance of the heavy rain advisory, the Seoul City declared a Level 1 (Advisory) emergency response, and immediately after the heavy rain warning was issued, raised the response level to Level 2 (Alert).
Currently, 859 city officials and 6,284 personnel from 25 autonomous districts have entered standby operations in preparation for the heavy rain. Out of 120 rainwater pumps, 19 are partially operational.
A 'Flood Advisory' has been issued for nine districts: Gangseo, Eunpyeong, Seodaemun, Mapo, Jongno, Nowon, Dobong, Gangbuk, and Seongbuk.
Additionally, support for drainage in 10 housing locations and safety measures for 28 facilities have been implemented.
Seoul City conducted monitoring activities and inspected 59 major construction sites and 880 locations at high risk of landslides over the two days since the previous day, including parks, Han River parks, and hiking trails.
Furthermore, over 5,000 rainwater catchment facilities were inspected, and more than 1,600 were cleaned, while maintenance was performed on 184 underground roads, dedicated roads, tunnels, bridges, and drainage channels, and 144 potholes were repaired.
The city plans to continuously monitor weather conditions and the status of rivers and roads to ensure an adequate response.
Image source: Eastern Urban Expressway CCTV / Seoul Facility Management Corporation
