Chungcheong: Torrential rains have battered parts of South and North Chungcheong provinces, causing widespread flooding and residents' evacuation, according to weather authorities Thursday, with warnings of further downpours in the coming days.

According to Yonhap News Agency, as a rain front showed signs of moving northward, the government's disaster response authorities put the Chungcheong provinces and southern part of Gyeonggi Province on the second-highest alert level. Since Wednesday evening, as much as 344 mm of rain has fallen in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, the hardest-hit area, according to weather officials.

In Seosan, 114.9 mm of rain fell in just one hour between 1:46 a.m. and 2:46 a.m., recording the highest hourly rainfall for July since observations began there in 1968. In other areas in the province, including Yesan and Dangjin, surging floodwaters have prompted people to evacuate. Some railway service in the region has been suspended due to the downpours.

A total of 302 cases of rain-related damage have been reported so far in the region, according to fire authorities in South Chungcheong Province. In the city of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, 67.4 mm of rain fell per hour, marking the second-highest rainfall. As of 7 a.m. Thursday, 26 emergency text alerts for heavy rain were issued nationwide via mobile phones, among which 25 were for the Chungcheong area.

The KMA issues such alerts when hourly rainfall exceeds 50 mm and three-hour cumulative rainfall tops 90 mm, or when one-hour rainfall alone surpasses 72 mm. More rain is expected to pound the country until Saturday. Around 50 to 150 mm of rain is expected in the greater Seoul area and Chungcheong Province, 30 to 100 mm in North Jeolla Province, and 20 to 80 mm in Gwangju and South Jeolla Provinces until Friday.