South Korea, Mexico Remain at the Mercy of Flood Waters

Posted on Fri, 02 Oct 1998 17:29:49 GMT

Written by Doug Rekenthaler, Managing Editor, DisasterRelief.org

Half a world away, Tropical Storm Yanni moved off the South Korean coast late Thursday, but not before dumping more than 20 inches of rain in less than six hours on some regions of the country, including hard-hit Kyongsang province in the north.

Floodwaters washed away rail lines and highways and inundated more than 622,000 acres of rice crops (one-third of the nation's entire harvest). Agricultural officials said the flood was particularly damaging to rice, because the crops were mature and unlikely to recover from the blow.

"A considerable reduction in rice production is feared because the damage was done only a few weeks before harvest was to begin," Lee Eun-ho, a member of the agricultural ministry, told a local television station. Prior to the storm, the government had predicted a third straight bumper crop.

On Friday, authorities reported 1,326 homes damaged or destroyed by the flood waters, four vessels sunk, 34 roads damaged, and sea and airline routes temporarily closed. About one-third of Pohang, a major manufacturing center in Kyongsang province, was reported to be under water. Three passengers were injured Wednesday when their Korean Air jet slid off the runway in Ulsan during heavy rain.

Casualty figures continued to rise as communications links to remote areas were reestablished. The death toll is expected to rise further as the bodies of some of the missing are located.

Earlier this summer, record floods killed at least 270 people and forced 16,000 people from their homes. Sixty-five people are still missing and presumed dead from those floods.

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