Interior Ministry raises heavy rain alert as downpours lash southern regions

The government raised its heavy rain crisis alert level and activated a full emergency response Sunday as concentrated downpours struck southern parts of the country, prompting an expansion of heavy rain advisories.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said it upgraded the heavy rain crisis alert from "Attention" to "Caution" effective 7 a.m. Sunday.

The ministry dispatched three field situation managers to South Gyeongsang Province in anticipation of heavy rainfall concentrating around the Jirisan area. It also convened a situation assessment meeting at 6:30 a.m., chaired by the head of the National Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, to review regional precipitation trends, damage reports and preparedness at landslide-prone sites.

In addition, the ministry urged local governments and relevant agencies to proactively restrict access to flood-prone and vulnerable areas and share real-time hazard information to ensure thorough on-site safety measures.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, heavy rain warnings were in effect as of 7:40 a.m. Sunday for the Yeongam, Mokpo, Haenam and Muan areas of South Jeolla Province, while heavy rain advisories were issued across parts of Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, South Gyeongsang Province and Jeju. Rainfall of 30 to 50 millimeters per hour — exceeding 50 millimeters in some areas — accompanied by strong gusts and lightning was concentrated along the central and southern West Sea coast of South Jeolla Province, while most other parts of the country were seeing around 20 millimeters per hour.

Cumulative rainfall recorded from 9 p.m. Saturday through 7 a.m. Sunday at key monitoring stations included: Seogwipo Jindallaebat at 137.5 millimeters, Yeongam Samho at 132.8 millimeters, Jindo Suyu at 131.5 millimeters, Mokpo at 128.1 millimeters, Haenam Sollasido at 116.5 millimeters, Buyeo Yanghwa at 51.5 millimeters, Osan in Gyeonggi Province at 44.0 millimeters and Seoul Seongbuk at 38.5 millimeters.

Rain is forecast to continue across most of the country through Monday morning, with some areas of Jeju seeing rain into Monday evening. Central regions are expected to see precipitation ease in many places from Sunday afternoon.

A total of 11 damage reports had been received as of Sunday, including flooded roads and fallen street trees, but no casualties or major infrastructure damage had been confirmed. Access was blocked at 162 locations, including 91 trail sections within the Jirisan, Wolchulsan, Dadohae and Hallasan national parks, as well as riverside walking paths and bridges.