Photos: South Korean rain turns roads into rivers

A part of a main road near the Han River is flooded due to heavy rain in Seoul, South Korea. Some of the heaviest rainfall in decades swamped South Korea's capital region, turning Seoul's streets into car-clogged rivers and sending floods into subway stations.

A car damaged by flood water is seen on the street after heavy rainfall at Gangnam district in Seoul. Authorities warned there was more rain to come even as emergency workers struggled to clear the hulks of flooded cars.

Abandoned vehicles fill the road in the flooded area during heavy rain in Seoul. Dramatic images shared on social media showed people wading through waist-deep water, metro stations overflowing, and cars half-submerged in Seoul's posh Gangnam district, which was particularly hard-hit when torrential rain battered the city.

The downpour that began Monday is the heaviest rainfall in South Korea in 80 years, Above, a bridge is submerged by torrential rain of the previous day at Han river in Seoul.

Pedestrians walk past debris outside shops at the historic Namseong Market in the Gangnam district of Seoul.

A man stands among vehicles abandoned in flooded area during heavy rain in Seoul.

Pedestrians cross a flooded road at a junction in Gimpo, South Korea.

More than 45 centimeters (18 inches) of rain was measured in Seoul's hardest-hit Dongjak district from Monday to Tuesday evening. 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.

Deserted cars and buses were scattered across streets as the water receded on Tuesday. Workers cleared uprooted trees, mud and debris with excavators and blocked off broken roads. Landslide warnings were issued in nearly 50 cities and towns, and 160 hiking paths in Seoul and mountainous Gangwon province were closed.

“The heavy rainfall is expected to continue for days. We need to maintain our sense of alert and respond with all-out effort,'' President Yoon Suk Yeol said at the government's emergency headquarters. The military was prepared to deploy troops to help with recovery efforts if requested by cities or regional governments, Defense Ministry spokesperson Moon Hong-sik said.

A car damaged by flood water is seen on the street after heavy rainfall at Gangnam district in Seoul on August 9, 2022.