Heavy rainfall soaks Jeju; 30 flights to, from Jeju canceled

JEJU, South Korea, June 29 (Yonhap) — Heavy rainfall soaked the southern resort island of Jeju on Saturday, leading to the closure of trails to Mount Halla and the cancellation or delay of nearly a hundred flights.

Accumulated precipitation in some parts of Mount Halla at the center of Jeju had ranged from 177.5 millimeters to 241.5 mm as of 7 p.m., with rain of up to 162.5 mm recorded on other parts of the island, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

Seogwipo in southern Jeju and Seongsan in eastern Jeju received rainfall of 55.5 mm and 81 mm per hour, respectively, marking their highest and second-highest hourly precipitation on record for June.

The rain resulted in the closure of seven trails up Mount Halla and flooded 32 houses, stores, roads and basement parking lots.

Five people urgently evacuated their vehicles stranded on flooded roads in Seogwipo.

At Jeju International Airport, 30 flights to and from Jeju were canceled due to bad weather conditions at airports outside the island, including Gimhae International Airport, while some 70 others were delayed.

Authorities also canceled operations of passenger ferries connecting Jeju to the nearby island of Wando for Sunday, due to heavy monsoon rain expected in the area.