Thousands evacuated amid SKorea rains Seoul (AFP) Jul 28, 2006 Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes Friday as heavy rain pounded central provinces of South Korea, government officials said. Some 3,500 residents in Pyeongtaek City, 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Seoul, took shelter in churches and schools as flood alerts were issued for low lying areas, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said. Farms, houses and roads were inundated in Pyeongtaek, where 29.4 centimeters (11.76 inches) of rain fell between early Thursday and mid-afternoon Friday. In the eastern coastal province of Gangweon, more than 1,000 people on Friday fled their homes in Inje county and Pyeongchang county, both of which had already been hit hard by monsoon rains last week. "But no casualties from the latest downpour have been reported so far," said Kim Seon-Tae, a spokesman for NEMA. Heavy rain alerts have been in effect since Thursday for most of South Korea except for southern provinces. Weather forecasters are predicting that up to 15 centimeters (six inches) more rain will fall by early Saturday in Gangweon province, Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province. Seasonal monsoon rains have lashed South Korea for the past two weeks, fed by two recent typhoons in the region. The rains over the period have left 31 people dead and 17 others missing, NEMA said, causing more than 1.3 billion dollars in damages mostly to homes, roads, briges and farmland. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
Eleven officials sentenced for illegal logging in Cambodia Phnom Penh (AFP) Jul 27, 2006 Eleven people, including police and military officials, have been given stiff prison sentences over an enormous logging scandal in which tons of timber were taken from a key Cambodian park, court officials said Thursday. |
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