[Anchor]

On Sunday, today (October 18), gusty and turbulent autumn rain lashed most parts of the country. Flooding damages continued across urban areas, including Seoul. The damage was compounded as fallen leaves that were not cleared in time clogged drainage systems.

We begin with a report by Noh Yujin.

[Reporter Noh Yujin]

Water rises on the road, and fallen leaves float around.

Parked vehicles are submerged up to their tires, and heavy splashes follow as cars drive by.

[Choi Eun-seo / Witness: I looked out the window, and it was raining so hard that I couldn't see right in front of me. Fallen leaves were floating everywhere, all the parked cars were flooded, and as buses drove past, the wakes caused the flooded cars to shake again...]

On a road in Pyeongnae-dong, Gyeonggi Province, heavy downpours caused water to overflow even onto the adjacent sidewalk.

Fallen leaves floating along the road wash into a bus stop.

As sewers become blocked with fallen leaves and garbage in various places, causing water to swell on the roads, citizens even dig out debris with their bare hands.

Heavy rain advisories issued starting around 1:00 PM were lifted in most areas an hour or two later, but road flooding appears to have worsened as autumn leaves and other debris blocked road sewers.

In Seoul as well, torrential downpours hammered the city temporarily, leading to the closure of the Cheonggyecheon pedestrian walkway, along with 29 other streams including Jungnangcheon, Yangjaecheon, Uicheon, and Seongbukcheon.

In addition, flood warnings were issued for Gangbuk-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, and Nowon-gu.

The area around Yeonsinnae Station in Eunpyeong-gu was flooded, and both directions of the underpass road at Jeungsangyo Bridge in Seodaemun-gu were completely closed to traffic.

As roads turned into muddy water and manhole covers were dislodged by the heavy rain, causing a cascade of rain damage nationwide, 119 emergency calls exceeded 100 cases.

Outdoor autumn events were also disrupted by the rain accompanied by strong winds.

Rain is expected to continue in parts of the central region until tonight, and in the southern regions until tomorrow morning, and in Jeju until tomorrow afternoon, making preparations for additional damage necessary.

(Video by Kim Nam-seong | Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu)


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[Anchor]

Damage from strong winds also piled up. In Incheon, signboard structures and a church spire fell down, while street trees in downtown areas were uprooted entirely. Flight delays and cancellations also poured in.

Continuing with reporter Bae Seongjae.

[Reporter Bae Seongjae]

A large signboard hanging on the exterior wall of a building sways in the wind, barely hanging by one side.

Vehicles pass precariously beneath the fallen signboard.

Around 1:40 PM today (October 18), a signboard was blown down by strong winds in Sinpo-dong, Incheon.

In Simgok-dong, Incheon, a church spire installed at the height of a four-story building crashed down onto the road.

[Witness: I think it fell with a loud bang, like a bang, bang. It felt like a war broke out. It sounded like a bomb exploding.]

Fortunately, there were no injuries, but at the time, Incheon was being battered by gusty winds with maximum instantaneous wind speeds of around 20 meters per second.

Around the same time in Seoul, firefighters were clearing tree branches that had fallen onto roads amid strong winds.

At around 2:00 PM in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, a street tree on the sidewalk failed to withstand the strong winds and was uprooted from its base.

At Cheonggye Plaza, event tents collapsed.

Strong winds also struck Jeju.

Around 3:00 PM, a tree fell in the forest tunnel of the 5.16 Road connecting Jeju City and Seogwipo City, temporarily restricting traffic on mountainous roads.

Skies were disrupted as well.

At Incheon International Airport, 40 flights were canceled—including 36 flights canceled in advance according to weather forecasts—and 9 flights turned back.

At Gimpo Airport, around 140 outbound and inbound flights were delayed, and 8 flights were canceled.

Wind advisories issued for the capital area, South Chungcheong Province, the coasts of the Honam region, the east coast, and Jeju are projected to persist tonight, and until tomorrow morning in some areas.

(Video by Park Jin-ho | Video Editing by Park Chun-bae | Footage courtesy of Instagram '1965inn')