Severe rain caused flash floods, landslides, and transportation shutdowns in Geoje City, South Korea, prompting evacuation orders and stay-inside alerts [1].
The disaster disrupted critical infrastructure and forced emergency responses across multiple districts, highlighting the vulnerability of the region to extreme rainfall intensity.
The weather event began Sunday night, with the most critical incidents occurring between 1:00 and 5:12 on Monday morning [1]. Authorities issued the first flood warning and evacuation order at 1:00 [1]. As the storm intensified, a citywide disaster text was sent to residents at 2:10 [1].
Rainfall intensity varied across the region. While Geoje City generally saw rainfall reach 50 mm per hour [1], the Ilun-myeon area experienced more extreme conditions with intensity exceeding 100 mm per hour [1].
The rapid accumulation of water put immense pressure on local reservoirs and rivers. An overflow risk for the Moon-dong Reservoir was reported around 2:40 [1]. Approximately one hour later, at 3:40, authorities issued a stay-inside message after the Seojeongcheon river overflowed [1].
By 4:00, major rivers had overflowed [1]. During this window, between 4:00 and 5:00, a landslide occurred in Okpo-dong that covered an apartment building [1]. Other affected areas included GoHyuncheon and Suwalcheon [1].
The escalating danger led to a total collapse of local transit. Citywide bus services were officially halted at 5:12 [1].
“Rainfall intensity in Ilun-myeon reached over 100 mm per hour”
The rapid transition from evacuation orders to stay-inside alerts indicates a volatile weather pattern where flash flooding and landslides occurred nearly simultaneously. The scale of the rainfall—peaking at 100 mm per hour in some districts—exceeded the capacity of local drainage and reservoir systems, necessitating the total shutdown of public transportation to prevent further casualties.
