[Anchor]

Overnight, the Seoul metropolitan area saw heavy rainfall of nearly 150mm. While all heavy rain warnings across the country have been lifted as of this afternoon, traffic has fully resumed on major roads in Seoul that were previously closed. We now go to our reporter stationed at Jungnangcheon Stream.

Kwon Min-kyu, what is the situation there now?

[Reporter]

I am at Jungnangcheon Stream, overlooking the Dongbu Expressway in Seoul.

The rain that poured overnight has stopped, and vehicle traffic has resumed.

However, as you can see behind me, the water level of the stream remains high.

As of 6:00 a.m. today (July 18), areas including Yangchon-eup in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, recorded 148.5mm of rain, and Gangseo-gu in Seoul recorded 135.5mm, with the metropolitan area seeing nearly 150mm of rainfall overnight.

Due to this, flood warnings were issued for areas including Gangseo-gu and Eunpyeong-gu in Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government had completely closed traffic in both directions on the Dongbu Expressway, from Surak Underpass to Seongsu Junction, connecting Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province to Seoul, starting at 4:47 a.m. due to concerns over flood damage.

As the rain stopped, traffic on the Dongbu Expressway resumed at 9:45 a.m., about five hours later, and all road closures in the Seoul area have now been lifted.

[Anchor]

Please provide an update on the damage across the country and the forecast for future rain.

[Reporter]

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated that as of 11:00 a.m. today, 540 cases of property damage, including flooded homes and roads, rockfalls, and fallen trees, have been reported nationwide.

While 95 people in 13 regions were temporarily evacuated due to concerns over landslides and flooding, no casualties from the heavy rain have been reported so far.

As the rain has subsided in Gangwon Province, where heavy rain advisories were in effect until this morning, all heavy rain warnings across the country have now been lifted.

Meanwhile, the Korea Forest Service raised the landslide crisis alert for the metropolitan area to the third level, "Caution," as of 6:00 a.m. today, and a landslide advisory was also issued for Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul.

The Korea Meteorological Administration warned that until tomorrow, Sunday, heavy rain of over 200mm could fall, particularly in the metropolitan and Gangwon regions, and urged the public to take extra precautions against safety accidents such as flooding in low-lying areas and landslides.

Reported by Kwon Min-kyu | Field Production: Seo Jin-ho | Video by Im Dong-guk and Kim Han-gyul | Video Editing: Lee So-young