Landslide buries apartment as record rains swamp Geoje during Liberation Day holiday

Boats were swept from the sea onto city streets. Saying the entire city was submerged would not be an exaggeration.

Torrential rains pounded Geoje, Tongyeong and the broader southern coast over the three-day Liberation Day holiday weekend, with damage still mounting. Landslides triggered by the downpours buried the lower floors of a nearby apartment building, washed out roads and flooded major facilities.

The rainfall during the holiday period set a new hourly precipitation record since meteorological observations began in the region.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, cumulative rainfall in Geoje reached 907 millimeters from midnight Saturday through 4 p.m. Monday. Nearly 600 mm fell on Monday alone. Neighboring Tongyeong recorded a cumulative total of 745 mm.

The KMA downgraded a heavy rain warning for Geoje to a heavy rain advisory at 4 p.m. Monday, but recovery efforts remained hampered as heavy rain continued to fall.

Between 1:32 a.m. and 2:32 a.m. Monday, Geoje recorded 124.5 mm of extreme rainfall in a single hour — the highest hourly total since weather observations began in the city on Jan. 24, 1972, roughly 54 years ago.

According to the KMA, when rainfall exceeds 100 mm per hour, floodwaters begin lifting vehicles off roads and the lower portions of most structures and buildings become inundated.

Tongyeong recorded 97.4 mm of rain in the hour beginning at 5:11 a.m. Monday — a new hourly precipitation record since observations began there on Jan. 1, 1968.

Cumulative rainfall from the start of the rains Saturday through 9 a.m. Monday reached 810.2 mm in Geoje and 678.9 mm in Tongyeong. Compared with the average summer rainfall for the 1991–2020 baseline period — 935.1 mm for Geoje and 728.8 mm for Tongyeong — roughly 90 percent of a typical summer's rain fell on both cities in just three days. Nearby Sacheon (Samcheonpo) and Goseong also received heavy rainfall over the three-day holiday, recording 403 mm and 420 mm respectively.

While the rains ended an unprecedented drought that had persisted across Geoje, Tongyeong, Sacheon, Goseong and other parts of South Gyeongsang Province this year, the deluge brought a new wave of hardship.

The record rainfall has caused casualties and property damage.

At around 4:42 a.m. Monday, a landslide in Okpo-dong, Geoje, sent debris crashing into a nearby apartment building. One first-floor resident was killed and two others sustained minor injuries.

At around 5:03 a.m., a landslide in Gonri-do, Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong, sent debris into a nearby house, burying a resident from the waist down. The Tongyeong Coast Guard rescued the person.

At around 5:17 a.m., three residents became trapped in a flooded elevator at an apartment building in Yangjeong-dong, Geoje, before managing to escape.

At around 9:23 a.m., firefighters rescued a citizen who had become stuck in debris on a road in Obi-ri, Yeoncho-myeon, Geoje. In Dongbu-myeon, Geoje, a resident in their 70s broke a window to escape after floodwaters surged into their home.

Between Sunday night and early Monday morning, dozens of emergency calls came in from isolated homes and vehicles across Geoje — including in Gohyeon-dong, Suwol-dong, Okpo-dong, Irun-myeon and Dunduk-myeon.

A total of 165 residents in Geoje, Tongyeong and Sacheon were evacuated to shelters including community centers, village halls and senior centers. As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, 99 people remained at evacuation sites.

Property damage is expected to grow as the record rains continue to take their toll.

In Geoje, buildings were flooded, storefront windows shattered under the force of the extreme rainfall, and chunks of asphalt were torn from roads by rushing water.

Road closures are in effect across multiple areas due to washouts. Provincial authorities have so far identified 12 cases of road damage — including potholes — across six cities and counties including Geoje, Tongyeong and Goseong, with the number expected to rise.

According to Geoje City Hall, as of 2:25 p.m. Monday, 25 roads were closed, including the access road to Seonmyeong Villa opposite the Geoje Fire Station in Okpo-dong.

In Geoje, Tongyeong and Goseong, flooding of major roads and bus terminals disrupted city bus, intercity bus and some taxi services. Schools, sports facilities and other sites also sustained flood damage.

Some areas faced additional hardships from water supply cutoffs and power outages.

Geoje City sent a text alert at around 9:59 a.m. Monday warning residents that water supply to Geoje-myeon and Dunduk-myeon would be cut off until Tuesday afternoon due to damage to water mains.

The holiday rains are believed to have damaged at least two water main sections in Dunduk-myeon.

Korea Electric Power Corporation's South Gyeongsang branch said power outages affected more than 2,100 households in Geoje on Monday, with about 1,200 since restored. Restoration work was still under way for roughly 800 households in Yeoncho-myeon and Mundong-dong. A large-scale outage was also reported at an apartment complex in Suyang-dong after the building's electrical room flooded.

The National Fire Agency had already issued a national fire mobilization order from Wednesday through Saturday to help South Gyeongsang Province cope with drought; it issued another such order Monday. A total of 387 personnel — 361 from the South Gyeongsang fire service and 26 dispatched under the national mobilization order — along with 84 pieces of equipment have been deployed, as have 47 personnel and 13 pieces of equipment from the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters.

By midday Monday, emergency services had received 1,947 flood-related calls from Geoje and Tongyeong — 1,634 from Geoje and 313 from Tongyeong.