Daegu City Center Temperatures Soar Past 40°C: "It's Like a Steaming Pot"

[Anchor]

The daytime temperature in Daegu reached 37.7°C (100°F), the highest in the nation. When our reporting team measured the temperature in downtown Daegu, it soared well past 40°C (104°F). Cases of heat-related illnesses are also emerging one after another.

TBC reporter Park Ga-young has the story.

[Reporter]

The construction site is completely empty, without a single worker in sight.

Under a tent where only an old fan spins weakly, the thermometer reads a staggering 38.9°C (102°F).

Although an ice machine was installed to prepare for the heatwave, it is of little use in such scorching weather.

[Kim Sam-seok / Construction Worker: (Doesn't it make you feel dizzy or anything, working in this weather?) It does when it's extremely hot. When it's that hot, we take salt tablets and continue working.]

The temperature currently observed by the Korea Meteorological Administration in Daegu is fluctuating around 34°C (93°F).

However, the temperature recorded on a thermometer here in the city center has surpassed 42°C (108°F).

Ice cubes placed on the ground melt in less than a minute.

Citizens have gathered in underground shopping centers to escape the heat.

The heat outside is so intense that even here, people are fanning themselves incessantly.

[Min Byeong-gwon / Dalseong-gun, Daegu: Oh, it's like a steaming pot at home. Even if you turn on the air conditioner, you can't keep it on for long because of the electricity bill.]

As of today (July 13), the daytime temperature in Sinam, Daegu, reached 37.7°C (100°F) based on automatic weather station data, marking the highest in the country. Other areas also experienced sweltering heat, with Homigot in Pohang and Hayang in Gyeongsan reaching 37.5°C (100°F), and Hwangseong in Gyeongju hitting 37°C (99°F).

Over the three days since the heatwave advisory was issued on July 10, a total of 25 people have suffered from heat-related illnesses in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions.

Authorities are on high alert due to this disaster-level heatwave that has arrived even before Chobok (the first of the three dog days of summer).

(Video by Kim Young-sang, TBC)

Reported by Park Ga-young, TBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.