Heavy rains flood farmland in northern North Gyeongsang Province, leaving 109 unable to return home

Torrential rain centered on northern North Gyeongsang Province has forced about 420 residents to evacuate, with damage continuing to mount.

As of 6 p.m. Sunday, North Gyeongsang Province said 420 residents had been evacuated across eight cities and counties, including Uiseong and Andong, of whom 311 had returned home. The remaining 109 were staying at village community centers and senior centers.

The downpours caused four road washouts and four instances of river flooding or levee failure across the province. In Andong, Uiseong, Gimcheon and Yecheon, crops including rice, peppers, soybeans and watermelons were submerged or buried under sediment.

At three temporary housing complexes in Andong and Uiseong sheltering victims of last year's wildfires, 20 temporary housing units were flooded and sediment poured into 18 regular homes.

Two water supply pipelines were washed out in Andong and Uiseong, temporarily cutting off tap water to 212 households. Service was restored in Uiseong, and power was fully resumed at eight locations in Andong and Uiseong that had experienced outages.

A total of 13 locations remain closed to the public, including four roads, four low-water crossings, two riverside parks, two campsites and one walking trail.

Fire and rescue authorities completed 207 emergency responses from Friday through Sunday, including 20 rescue operations. On Saturday night, eight residents trapped in flooded wildfire-victim housing in Iljik-myeon, Andong, were rescued, and 10 more were pulled from a flooded supermarket in Namseon-myeon.

Landslide advisories are currently in effect for Andong, Yeongju, Uiseong, Yecheon and Bonghwa in North Gyeongsang Province. The Korea Forest Service raised its landslide crisis alert for the region from Caution to Alert, and heavy rain warnings that had been lifted in the morning were reissued in the afternoon for Uiseong, Andong, Cheongsong and surrounding areas.