Heavy downpours cause flooding, damage, forcing over 600 to evacuate

Heavy monsoon rains pounded central and other parts of the nation Thursday, damaging more than 200 facilities and forcing over 600 people to leave their homes, authorities said.

As of 5 p.m., the downpours had damaged 256 facilities and prompted 662 people to temporarily evacuate across the nation, particularly in the central provinces of South and North Chungcheong, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Heavy rains battered the two Chungcheong provinces, wit