Rescuers in South Korea have recovered a total of 13 bodies from a flooded road tunnel in a central city, as the death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain rose to at least 40 on Monday.
The devastation prompted the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to warn that the climate crisis had made extreme weather a fact of life.
“This kind of extreme weather event will become commonplace … we must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it,” Yoon said as he prepared to visit flood-hit North Gyeongsang province.
Yoon said the idea that extreme weather linked to climate change is an anomaly and can’t be helped “needs to be completely overhauled”, while calling for “extraordinary determination” to improve the country’s preparedness and response measures.
Authorities in the central city of Cheongju said 13 people had been confirmed dead so far after their vehicles became trapped in the 685-metre-long Osong underground tunnel. Up to 15 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood when a riverbank broke on Saturday evening.
About 900 rescuers, including divers, continued to search the tunnel, which fire officials estimated filled with water in as little as two or three minutes.
Yoon ordered authorities to make an “all-out effort” to deal with the floods and promised support for recovery work, including designating special disaster zones in the hardest-hit areas.
Residents and families of the victims were heavily critical of local authorities, accusing them of presiding over a “man-made disaster” for not preemptively closing the tunnel amid torrential rain and rising water levels in a nearby river. Police said they would launch an investigation into the fatal flooding, the Yonhap news agency said.
They asked why the North Chungcheong provincial government had not closed the low-lying tunnel, located just 600 metres away from the Miho river, even after a flood warning was issued for the river four hours before the accident, according to the Korea Times.
In response, the provincial government said that its emergency response manual did not require the tunnel’s immediate closure under those conditions.
“It is not always mandatory to implement entry restrictions in the event of a flood warning,” Kang Jong-geun, a provincial official, told reporters at the weekend. “We review the overall road situation and make decisions based on close monitoring,”
“There did not seem to be particular issues until the breach of the embankment … and due to the rapid influx of water, we did not have enough time to stop the cars from entering.”
But Jang Chan-gyo, a local resident, said more should have been done to prevent the river from bursting its banks.
“They have been warning us to be prepared for the rainy season from a week ago, but it doesn’t make sense why the authorities did not preemptively build a strong levee that could have prevented the disaster,” Jang was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
Yoon blamed local authorities for failing to follow disaster response rules, saying the situation had been made worse by poor preparation in vulnerable areas.
“We have repeatedly emphasised access control in dangerous areas and preemptive evacuations … but if the basic principles of disaster response are not kept on the spot, it is difficult to ensure public safety,” Yoon told an intra-agency meeting on Monday.
Heavy rain has pummelled central and southern regions of South Korea since Thursday, as the annual rainy season reached its peak. The interior ministry said nine people were missing and 34 injured. Thousands have been evacuated.
Yonhap said the rains had forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate. The downpours have damaged more than 139 homes and swept away 146 roads, the agency said.
Photos and video footage from the scene in Cheongju showed rescue workers establishing a perimeter and pumping brown water out of the tunnel as divers used rubber boats to move in and out of the area.
Yang Chan-mo, an official from the North Chungcheong provincial fire department, said at the weekend the tunnel was filled with four to five metres (13-16ft) of water dense with mud and other debris. Workers were proceeding slowly to prevent any victims or survivors from being swept out, Yang said.
More than 60cm (24in) of rain has been measured in the South Chungcheong provincial towns of Gongju and Cheongyang since 9 July. Cheongju, where the tunnel is located, received more than 54cm (21in) during the same period.
The Korea Meteorological Administration said central and southern parts of the country could receive as much as 30cm (12in) of further rainfall through Tuesday.
With Associated Press
