[Anchor]

Bangkok, Thailand, has been completely paralyzed after a month's worth of torrential rain pounded the city in just 48 hours. Flood damage has even delayed flights, leaving hundreds of South Korean travelers stranded at the airport.

Reporter Kim Young-a has the details.

[Reporter]

A bus plows through rushing currents resembling ocean waves.

People work together to push a waterlogged car out of the way.

Starting on the 24th local time, 330mm of rain fell on the Thai capital Bangkok over four days, with more than 300mm pouring down in just two days.

That amount matches September's entire monthly precipitation.

As water levels rose to adult waist-height across various parts of the city, approximately 52,000 households were flooded and about 4,900 people were evacuated.

[Rachatanichipon Liput / Flood Victim : I walked about two to three kilometers from my house. The inner area near my house is low-lying, so the water rose up to my son's neck.]

The entire city of Bangkok has been declared a disaster zone, and a temporary public holiday has been declared until tomorrow for Bangkok and three neighboring metropolitan provinces.

Although the rain stopped after four days, the floodwaters are barely receding.

This is because record-breaking torrential rain poured down while water levels in canals and rivers were already high due to the rainy season, vastly exceeding the city's drainage capacity.

[Sarayut Maikaew / Flood Victim : I'm afraid the flood will last a long time. I'm worried we'll run out of rice and face that kind of situation. The grocery stores are out of food, and supplies seem to be running short now.]

Ground transportation, including railways and buses, has been paralyzed in many areas.

Consequently, a series of airline crew members arriving late led to disruptions in flight operations as well.

Hundreds of South Korean travelers who visited Bangkok for the Chuseok holiday were also stranded at the airport for over 10 hours.

In the Nong Prue area near Pattaya, a body believed to be a South Korean man who went missing after falling into a drainage ditch while walking along a flooded road was found three days after his disappearance.

Thai authorities stated that they plan to verify the exact identity.

(Video Editing: Cho Moo-hwan)