The historic snowfall in the greater Seoul area in the past two days resulted in six deaths, and a number of injuries.
It’s also resulted in a great deal of facility damage.
Lee Seung-jae has more.
Wednesday and Thursday saw the most November snowfall seen in the greater Seoul area in over 100 years.
The heavy snowfall also resulted in the deaths of six people.
The fatalities include a person who died late Wednesday at a golf range in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do Province after a net covered in heavy snow collapsed.
Also in Gyeonggi-do, a man was killed when a protective tent at an auto parts factory collapsed due to the sheer weight of the piled-up snow, while a man in his 60s, out clearing snow, was killed when the immense weight of accumulated snow brought a tree down on him.
Two people were killed in traffic accidents while a civil servant died from cardiac arrest after clearing snow.
Combined with the wet snow that fell, the tremendous weight and pressure on roofs and structures caused a great deal of damage.
Experts say 50 centimeters of wet snow piled up on a 100 square meter area would weigh five tons.
This led many older facilities and roofs to collapse with several injuries reported over the past two days.
Such was the case in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do Province, where the roof of an agricultural and marine products wholesale market collapsed on Thursday.
A woman in her 60s was injured due to the incident.
The unprecedented snow has also impacted travel throughout the country.
Dozens of flights were canceled during the two-day period, with many more delayed.
Many commuters also found themselves without access to public transportation in some parts of Seoul, as buses struggled to access snow-covered roads.
Extra caution is advised on Friday with subzero temperatures causing icy roads.
Also with snow forecast for Friday afternoon, the country is preparing to minimize damage seen during the past two days.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
source : https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=278488
