Heavy rains kill 1 in South Korea and flood major streets in Philippines

On Monday, torrential rains in southern South Korea claimed the life of one individual and injured four others. A landslide in Geoje city resulted in the death, while two casualties occurred in Geoje and two more in neighboring towns. The prolonged rainfall, which began on Saturday, has prompted around 390 people to evacuate to safer locations and left approximately 3,580 households without electricity, as reported by the Interior and Safety Ministry.

Concurrently, the Philippines faced a different but equally devastating consequence of the heavy monsoon rains. The densely populated region of metropolitan Manila and a dozen surrounding provinces witnessed flooded streets and disrupted traffic. In response, the government declared a suspension of government operations and the cancellation of classes across all levels, commencing at noon.

Schools were directed to transition to online learning. The relentless three-week-long monsoon rains, coupled with a storm that had struck the northern island of Luzon two weeks earlier, have resulted in at least 23 fatalities, predominantly due to landslides and floods. Additionally, the calamity has affected over 5 million people, with approximately 25,000 individuals residing in government emergency shelters across several northern provinces, as stated by the Office of Civil Defense.

Notably, 10 people, including children, perished when their homes were engulfed by a landslide on August 9 in Baguio, a northern mountain resort city. Three others survived the disaster with injuries after being rescued from the debris, according to officials.