Deaths, injuries, blackouts reported nationwide as heaviest November snow in over 100 years hits Seoul

 
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said more than 24 centimeters (9.44 inches) of snow had battered Seoul and Gangwon as of 4 p.m. Gyeonggi received 22 centimeters of snow, and 14 centimeters of snow hit Incheon. Other provinces and Jeju Island had gotten 2.8 to 20.1 centimeters of snow.  
 
The capital had received over 16 centimeters of snow as of 8 a.m., the city’s highest daily snow accumulation in November since modern meteorological observation began in 1907.

In Gangwon, pummeled by over 21.8 centimeters of snow, an 81-year-old passenger died after five vehicles collided on an expressway at around 6:40 a.m. Two other drivers were severely injured, and four passengers received minor injuries.

At around 12:18 p.m., an employee of an expressway operator in his 30s, who was controlling the traffic in Hwaseong in Gyeonggi, was struck by a bus that skidded off on a snowy road. The employee was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 

At around 6:10 a.m., an SUV vehicle and a truck struck each other near a tunnel in Namyangju in Gyeonggi. Two drivers involved in the accident reported back injuries.

Over hundreds of households in Seongbuk District in northern Seoul were affected by an electricity blackout after a tree bent under piled-up snow and hit electricity wires at around 5:30 a.m.

Another 230 households in Gyeonggi’s Gwangju experienced power outage after a utility pole collapsed and cut the electricity supply, the Korea Electric Power Corporation said Wednesday.
 
A total of 146 international and domestic flights had been canceled nationwide: 71 at Incheon International Airport as of 5 p.m. and 31 at Gimpo International Airport, 27 at Jeju International Airport, eight at Gimhae International Airport, two at Gwangju, Gunsan and Wonju airports, and one flight each from Ulsan and Yeosu airports as of 4 p.m., according to Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation. The counts are based on departing airports.

To minimize public inconveniences caused by snow, local governments and public transportation operators said they would increase the number of services and offer more subways and buses than usual.
 
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Seoul’s subway lines No. 2 and 5 to 8 will have an extended evening rush hour to 8:30 p.m., 30 minutes longer than the regular rush hour ending at 8 p.m. Rush hour service intervals are three to five minutes shorter than regular operations. The city government also said the morning rush hour would remain extended — from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — on Thursday as heavy snow will likely continue.
 
On Wednesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to “mobilize all equipment and snow-removing personnel to prevent public harm such as traffic accidents or congestion.”

At 2 p.m., the Interior Ministry raised the warning level from the second-lowest “caution” to the second-highest “alert” of its four-tier snowfall crisis management system. The ministry also has been operating the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters since 3 a.m. on Wednesday.
 
As of 5 p.m., heavy snow warnings were in effect in some regions of Seoul, southern Gyeonggi, some parts of Incheon and North Jeolla, Hoengseong County and Wonju in Gangwon, the five islands in the Yellow Sea and the counties of Jincheon and Eumseong in North Chungcheong. The warnings are issued when over 20 centimeters of snowfall is expected within 24 hours.
 
Also, heavy snow advisories — which can be issued when more than five centimeters of snow is anticipated within 24 hours — were activated in northern parts of Gyeonggi, mountainous regions of Gangwon and Jeju Island, some parts in the provinces of Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gyeongsang, some areas of Incheon and Sejong city at 5 p.m. 

The KMA forecast that most regions nationwide will either be drenched by rain or pounded by snow until Thursday morning. It said central regions and eastern parts of North Jeolla may experience heavy snowstorms with an hourly precipitation of 1 to 5 centimeters.

The weather forecaster added that 3 to 15 centimeters of snow could fall in the metropolitan region, with some parts of southern Gyeonggi seeing additional snow accumulation of 25 centimeters. Northern Seoul and Gyeonggi are predicted to have an additional 3 to 8 centimeters of snow through Thursday.

The state weather agency called for precautions against hazards caused by icy and snowy roads and advised people to use public transportation or to drive slowly.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]