Road closures and vehicle damage follow heavy rain in Daegu, North Gyeongsang

Heavy rainfall in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang regions has led to a series of incidents, including severed roads and trapped vehicles. On the 17th, an hourly rainfall of 89mm was recorded in Jisan-dong, Daegu’s Suseong District, triggering the first issuance of the year of the 'extreme danger' text alert (emergency heavy rain disaster message). By 10 p.m. that day, 31.5mm of rain fell in Jisan 1-dong within 10 minutes, bringing daily precipitation to 183.5mm in the local area and 111.6mm across all of Daegu.

The city received over 100 reports of flooding, concentrated mainly in the Jisan-dong and Beommul-dong areas of Suseong District. Due to flooding concerns, Daegu City blocked both directions of Sincheon-dong Road at around 10:20 p.m. A driver stranded on Sincheon-dong Road was rescued at 10:05 p.m., and at 10:12 p.m., a driver trapped in a vehicle near a local hospital was rescued. Additionally, around 400 households in Sincheon-dong and Sinam-dong, Dong District, experienced a power outage due to strong winds and heavy rain at 8:13 p.m., but power was restored by 10 p.m.

In the North Gyeongsang region, damage such as road flooding and resident isolation continued. Gimcheon City, under a heavy rain warning, recorded a daily precipitation of 107.5mm and saw a peak hourly rainfall of 72mm at 7:42 p.m. Gimcheon City blocked the Yongjeon-Sinchon underpass and other areas at 8:28 p.m., later reopening some sections. In Gumi City, a family of four was isolated when their home flooded, but all were rescued by a fire and rescue team. Daily precipitation reached 110.5mm in Gyeongsan and 88.5mm in Gumi.

Of the 72 total damage reports received by North Gyeongsang Province, 42 were for road obstructions and 13 for residential flooding. Currently, heavy rain advisories are in effect for 11 locations in Daegu and North Gyeongsang, with heavy rain warnings issued for central Daegu, Gumi, and Gyeongsan. Daegu City issued Heavy Rain Alert Level 2, while North Gyeongsang Province activated Emergency Response Level 1 of the Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters. A Daegu City official stated that no casualties have been reported so far. The Daegu Meteorological Administration predicted an additional 50 to 100mm of rain, and up to 150mm in some areas, through the 19th.