[News Today] UNPRECEDENTED RAIN WREAKS HAVOC

[LEAD]
The rain has stopped for the meantime in Korea, allowing recovery efforts to begin at disaster sites. However, residents feel overwhelmed, uncertain where to start. Unprecedented rainfall caused extensive, simultaneous damage. Struggling with recovery costs, local governments have requested the declaration of special disaster areas.

[REPORT]
After a record-high precipitation, a dike has collapsed, and a village is submerged in water.

Rice paddies have turned into mud, while greenhouses caved in.

Restoration efforts have begun at the entrance of the village, but there is no end in sight.

Park Jae-nam / Excavator driver
No one knows when it will be over. I used to visit here often to see
my relatives, but I have never seen this kind of devastation.

The situation is even worse inside the village.

Flash floods have destroyed windows and everything inside.

Sung Yong-hee / KBS reporter
This is an alley in the inundated village. It's covered in mud 30cm thick.
It's hard to even walk here.

Residents who had evacuated during the downpour are now back to clean their homes, but they don't know where to begin.

Choi Jae-hyun / Daejeon resident
I don't know where to start. It's beyond frustrating.

Downtown traffic is also a mess.

A part of this bridge, which is usually packed with cars, has sunk, prompting authorities to close the entire bridge.

It's going to take at least a month to estimate the scale of damage, and just repairing the bridge will apparently not be enough to re-open it.

Yang Hwa-ja / Daejeon resident
Many people commute to Gyeryong from here. Cars pack the road, making
it look like a parking lot.

The recent torrential rains have wreaked havoc on many areas.

Buyeo-gun County, Chungcheongnam-do Province, has requested the government to designate it as a special disaster area.
Other local governments including Seo-gu District of Daejeon and Geumsan-gun County are also asking for government support.