Heavy rains in South Korea trigger floods and landslides killing 15 people and forcing 1,500 people to evacuate from their homes.
According to reports on Wednesday, August 5, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun told officials to declare Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces as special disaster areas.
The move would enable them to receive extra aid from the national government, the reports say.
The two (2) areas mentioned sustained 42 straight days of rains, reportedly the country’s longest monsoon.
The reports bare that rescue efforts have been difficult and complicated due to the concerns over the spread of the virus causing the coronavirus disease (Covid).
There are concerns that the virus may spread quicker in crowded evacuation shelters.
In shelters, fabric screens are set up inside the shelters to serve as dividers separating families from one another inside shelters as social distancing is being imposed.
Reports add that at least 1,500 homes have been submerged due to the floods or buried by landslides across the country.
News agency Yonghap reports that at least a thousand roads and bridges have been damaged
In an effort to help the flooded areas, Yonghap said, the floodgates at the Soyang River Dam in Gangwon province have been opened for the first time in three (3) years.
Meanwhile, North Korea warned of “torrential rains” but did not provide more details. The prospect of floods during the summer harvest season only ignited fears of food shortage in the ultra-secretive state of North Korea.