So, yesterday, I took a little trip down to the Han River. I like the rain in summer in Korea and I thought it would be fun to walk along the river bank. Only there was no river bank. I have seen the Han River swell up before, but never anything like this. So I took a few photos, from close to where I live.
These pictures are all from the Seogang Bridge area, on the north side of the river looking toward Yeouido. Where much of THE HOST takes place, coincidentally enough. All were taken around 6pm on Sunday, around the peak of the flooding.
This is a picture of the little island between Yeouido and the north side (cannot recall its name). As you can see, there is no island. Just the tops of the trees.
Here is a similar shot, but with the side of the bridge in view.
Looking east, down the Gangbyeon Expressway. The expressway has been closed off, as it was flooded further east. You can see a policeman walking toward the expressway onramp. Just after taking this picture, I took a stroll down the ramp onto the expressway, too. Felt like a scene from 28 DAYS LATER, walking down an empty highway like that.
Everything to the left of the expressway is usually riverside park, but here it is decidedly aqueous.
A closer look at the area that was on the left in the previous photo. You can see the top of a street lamp just poking out from the top of the muddy water.
Finally, here is a shot of the path that usually leads down to the riverside park.
Anyhow, I went back to the Han this evening, and as of 7pm, the water level was down about 2 or 3 meters from the high point yesterday. Although now that it is raining again, it could start to creep up again. I just hope no one else gets hurt.
Oh, and for that cool shot of the flooded Olympic Expressway (around subway line No. 1), you can check out the picture in the Korea Times here.
9 Comments
Jiminy jumping crickets! That’s a heck of a lot of water…that Korea Times photo is especially something.
Reminds me of the tropical storm Allison here in Houston back in 2001. That wasn’t fun for very many people…
Looks just as bad as August 1995. Glad to be in a dry-in-summer country
[And to answer the next comment, I meant August 1995 in Seoul...]
And last month and his months temps in Paris are in the high 80s low 90s…
Pffft… does June count as summer in Paris? It didn’t feel like it, cause it was mostly cold and wet all the time.
The incessent rain is like Venus in Robert Heilein’s Future History. The worst I have seen still has to be back in 91, the water made it all the way up to the top tier of the Panpo Bridge.
Great pics. I’ve noticed from my window that the river has risen, but haven’t got down to it to see just how much.
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You must have enjoyed your stroll on the expressway.
Wow, dda, does your comment on August 1995 ever bring back memories! I was in Deajon at the time. I have never, before or since, ever seen rain like that! I came down so hard the drops bounced back a metre into the air. I would walk up to KAIST for private lessons and be soaked in the first minute, the rain coming up under my poncho. I vividly recally cars being washed down Gap’chon stream. That was also the rain that caused so many crop failures in NK.
Kimchipig: I even remember when the rain started in Seoul: August 8 – the day after my birthday, *AND* the day I left for Hawai’i. Left well in advance, like 4pm – I lived back then in 보광동 – and barely made the 8pm flight [out of Kimp'o, so not that far]. Traffic was at an absolute standstill – we all know how bad Koreans are at driving when it rains…
I have witnessed another rain like this, in early September 1990. As luck would have it, I was moving places that day, and my stuff in my bag was completely soaked… It rained like that for a week, if memory serves, and at 석계역, the road that slopes down and passes under the elevated tracks was turned into a pool. Lots of damage in both cases – people dying in mountains, construction works completely destroyed [including, if memory serves, parts of the 북부간선도로], etc…
Memories, yes, and, with hindsight, cool ones, but still…
Wow! Thanks for the photos…