The 2011 Seoul floods were a series of floods in late July 2011 caused by heavy rainfall around

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The intense rain triggered a series of

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

s and

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s that killed at least 49 people by July 27, leaving a total of more than 77 dead or missing. On July 27, the number of killed rose further to 69. The floods occurred primarily around the national capital

and nearby

Siheung Siheung ( ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The city has a population of 511,807 people, where 508,646 are residents out of 218,846 households as of August 2021. Siheung acquired its curren ...

regions. At least 86 power outages followed the landslides, affecting 125,000 people by July 27. Over 11,000 South Koreans were forced to evacuate.

Causes and meteorology

On July 25, rains and thunderstorms triggered by a

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

hit the mountains of the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, producing over of rain in the Seoul region during a two-day span, the heaviest such event in July since 1907. of rain was recorded in the area after three days.

Impact

On July 26, a landslide buried three hotels in

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; formerly romanized as Chunchŏn; literally ''spring river'') is the capital of Gangwon Province in South Korea. The city lies in the north of the county, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River. There are some ...

, east of Seoul, killing 13 people from

Inha University Inha University (인하대학교(仁荷大學校)) is a private research university located in Incheon, South Korea. Known traditionally for research and education in the engineering and physical sciences, the University was established by the ...

. A landslide in

Umyeon-dong Umyeon-dong is a '' dong'', neighbourhood of Seocho-gu in Seoul, South Korea is part of Gangnam District and a well-known, private neighborhood for the wealthy in southern Seoul. It is a legal dong (법정동) administered under its administrative ...

killed 18 residents in an apartment block. Floodwaters inundated highways and tracks of the

Seoul Metropolitan Subway The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. The system serves most of the Seoul Metropolitan Area including ...

, while bridges over the Han River were closed off. Damages are likely to be in the hundreds of millions

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

. Motor vehicle damages reached $38 million on July 28. Close to of agricultural land and more than 10,000 homes were flooded.

Economic damage

Rail infrastructure in South Korea was impacted, while a South Korean investment analyst expected economic inflation to reach 4.6%.

Political issues

An editorial from

Kyunghyang Shinmun The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' or ''Kyonghyang Sinmun'' is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means ''Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.

pointed to Mayor of Seoul

Oh Se-hoon Oh Se-hoon (Korean: 오세훈, Hanja: 吳世勳; born January 4, 1961) is a South Korean politician who is currently the serving Mayor of Seoul since 8 April 2021. He also previously served as a member of the National Assembly of South Korea ...

as the main culprit of the worsened flood crisis; as both his ''Hangang Renaissance'' project and his ''Design Seoul'' project (which redesigned some streets in Seoul) had further increased the overall damage of the flooding. There is a concern whether the Umyeon-san landslide resulted from a natural cause or intentional negligence of prevention by the government.

Landmine threat

Approximately ten

landmine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s from the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

in the vicinity of Umyeon were buried by a landslide on July 26, and have not been recovered as of July 28.

North Korean floods

In neighbouring

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, nearly of land was flooded, with the worst impact in

South Hwanghae South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaenamdo; , lit. "south Yellow Sea province") is a province in western North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital i ...

. Fatalities and damages are unknown.

References

Seoul floods Floods in North Korea 2010s in Seoul 2011 in South Korea Floods in South Korea Seoul floods Seoul floods 2011 disasters in North Korea