SEOUL: Cleanup and recovery efforts gained pace in South Korea’s greater capital region Wednesday as skies cleared after two days of record-breaking rainfall that unleashed flash floods, damaged thousands of buildings and roads and killed at least nine people.
While lifting heavy rain warnings for Seoul and the neighboring metropolitan areas, South Korea’s weather agency forecasted 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches) of rain in the country’s southern regions through Thursday.
Seven people remain missing in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi Province following the heavy rains that swamped the region Monday and Tuesday, turning streets into car-clogged rivers, sending floods cascading into subway stations, triggering landslides that crashed into roads and buildings, and displacing more than 1,800 people from their homes. The nine people who died included four who drowned in their homes in Seoul.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a disaster response meeting Wednesday apologized on behalf of the government over the deaths and disruption caused by the heavy rains. He urged the central government to provide more financial help and personnel assistance to cities and regional governments to speed up recovery efforts.
He also called for significant improvements to the country’s flood management systems, including building more rain tanks and tunnels and improving flood-prediction technologies, citing the growing challenges posed by extreme weather events.
“It’s certainly true that (the rainfall) was abnormal weather, but we have come to a point where we can no longer call abnormal weather abnormal,” Yoon said. “We could see new record levels (of rain) at any time. We need to build our response so that we are ready for a situation that’s worse than we had imagined.”
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said workers through Wednesday afternoon had finished restoring more than 90 percent of some 2,800 buildings, homes, roads and other facilities in the capital area that had been prioritized in emergency recovery plans.
Nearly 3,000 government workers, including police and fire department personnel, and dozens of excavators and dump trucks have been deployed in the recovery efforts. The military has separately deployed around 1,300 troops, some of whom were seen cleaning debris and salvaging furniture at flooded neighborhoods in southern Seoul.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties in regions south of the capital area, where the weather agency issued heavy rain warnings. Landslide warnings were issued in more than 30 cities and towns across the country,
More than 52 centimeters (20 inches) of rain was measured in Seoul’s hardest-hit Dongjak district from Monday to Wednesday at noon. Precipitation in the area exceeded 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) per hour at one point Monday night — the highest hourly downpour measured in Seoul since 1942.
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South Korea’s rain-hit capital region reeling from flood damages
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South Korea’s rain-hit capital region reeling from flood damages
- Two days of record-breaking rainfall unleashed flash floods, damaged thousands of buildings and roads and killed at least nine people
French forces use tear gas to clear protesters protecting condemned cows
LES BORDES SURE ARIZE: Veterinarians arrived at a French farm Friday under police escort to slaughter a herd of cows suffering from a potentially deadly disease, an AFP reporter said, after police used tear gas to clear away angry protesters trying to protect the animals.
Farmers have staged protests in several parts of France in recent days, accusing the authorities of not doing enough to support them.
Hundreds of agricultural workers have demonstrated for two days outside the farm in the southern area of Ariege near the Spanish border.
They set up a cordon around the farm after the authorities on Wednesday said that more than 200 Blonde d’Aquitaine cows at the farm had nodular dermatitis — widely known as lumpy skin disease — and would have to be euthanized.
Gendarmes used tear gas late Thursday to fight their way past dozens of farmers who stayed after nightfall to blockade the farm in the village of Les Bordes-sur-Arize, while protesters hurled stones, branches and other makeshift missiles as hay bales burnt in the background.
Four people were arrested, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
Several farmers and supporters had earlier chopped down trees and set up barricades to stop veterinary staff from entering to carry out the killing.
Regional prefect Herve Brabant said that the brothers who owned the farm had agreed to have the herd slaughtered in line with precautions against the disease.
But Pierre-Guillaume Mercadal, of the local Rural Confederation union leading the protest, said one brother had agreed and one was opposed.
“They are tearing this family apart,” he said.
- ‘In shock’ -
Marina Verge, 33, the daughter of one of the owners, on Wednesday told AFP that killing the cows amounted to destroying “almost 40 years” of their life’s work.
“They’re in shock, it’s unimaginable. They didn’t expect it,” she said.
“You don’t imagine finding yourself without livestock overnight.”
Other cases have also been detected in the region and some 3,000 of the 33,000 cattle in Ariege have already been vaccinated.
Lumpy skin disease, which cannot be passed to humans but can be fatal for cattle, first appeared in France in June. French authorities insist the outbreak is under control and that they are preparing a mass vaccination program.
The World Organization for Animal Health says that cases have also been reported in Italy this year.
According to the European Food Safety Authority, the disease is present in many African countries.
In 2012, it spread from the Middle East to Greece, Bulgaria and the Balkans. A vaccination program halted that epidemic.
Farmers have staged protests in several parts of France in recent days, accusing the authorities of not doing enough to support them.
Hundreds of agricultural workers have demonstrated for two days outside the farm in the southern area of Ariege near the Spanish border.
They set up a cordon around the farm after the authorities on Wednesday said that more than 200 Blonde d’Aquitaine cows at the farm had nodular dermatitis — widely known as lumpy skin disease — and would have to be euthanized.
Gendarmes used tear gas late Thursday to fight their way past dozens of farmers who stayed after nightfall to blockade the farm in the village of Les Bordes-sur-Arize, while protesters hurled stones, branches and other makeshift missiles as hay bales burnt in the background.
Four people were arrested, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
Several farmers and supporters had earlier chopped down trees and set up barricades to stop veterinary staff from entering to carry out the killing.
Regional prefect Herve Brabant said that the brothers who owned the farm had agreed to have the herd slaughtered in line with precautions against the disease.
But Pierre-Guillaume Mercadal, of the local Rural Confederation union leading the protest, said one brother had agreed and one was opposed.
“They are tearing this family apart,” he said.
- ‘In shock’ -
Marina Verge, 33, the daughter of one of the owners, on Wednesday told AFP that killing the cows amounted to destroying “almost 40 years” of their life’s work.
“They’re in shock, it’s unimaginable. They didn’t expect it,” she said.
“You don’t imagine finding yourself without livestock overnight.”
Other cases have also been detected in the region and some 3,000 of the 33,000 cattle in Ariege have already been vaccinated.
Lumpy skin disease, which cannot be passed to humans but can be fatal for cattle, first appeared in France in June. French authorities insist the outbreak is under control and that they are preparing a mass vaccination program.
The World Organization for Animal Health says that cases have also been reported in Italy this year.
According to the European Food Safety Authority, the disease is present in many African countries.
In 2012, it spread from the Middle East to Greece, Bulgaria and the Balkans. A vaccination program halted that epidemic.
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