Ministry of Environment Holds Typhoon 'Maisak' Response Review Meeting... "Concerns Over Strong Winds and Heavy Rain"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment held an emergency inspection meeting on the 1st at the Hangang Flood Control Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in preparation for the northward approach of Typhoon No. 9 'Maysak.'

The meeting was attended via video by four flood control offices under the Ministry of Environment, Korea Water Resources Corporation, the Korea Meteorological Administration, and regional environmental offices, among other related agencies, to review the response posture.

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae said, "This typhoon is likely to make direct landfall in our country, raising concerns about damage caused by strong winds and heavy rain," adding, "We will promote damage prevention through pre-release of dams and pre-inspection of environmental facilities, and strive to ensure public safety by promptly restoring damaged environmental facilities."

The Ministry of Environment's preparations for the northward approach of Typhoon Maysak are as follows. Currently, the flood control capacity of 20 multipurpose dams is 4.34 billion tons, which can store rainfall of an average of 271 mm without separate discharge.

This is a 52.3% increase compared to the flood control capacity of 2.85 billion tons at the beginning of last month. The Ministry of Environment plans to secure flood control capacity by conducting pre-release according to the expected rainfall before the typhoon approaches.

An official from the Ministry of Environment stated, "If it becomes inevitable to increase the discharge volume due to concentrated rainfall caused by the typhoon, we will communicate sufficiently with downstream local governments to prevent damage."

To prevent casualties, national parks will be gradually restricted.

Considering the typhoon's path, restrictions will begin sequentially from southern region parks (such as Jiri, Gyeongju, and Hallyeo, including eight park trails) starting today. From the 2nd to the 3rd, when the typhoon directly affects the area, all 21 parks and 607 trails will be completely closed, and the use of 28 campgrounds will be suspended.

Pre-inspection and emergency restoration of the quarantine fences installed to prevent the spread of African swine fever will also be carried out.

The Ministry of Environment will operate the 'Flood Countermeasure Situation Room' until the typhoon completely passes through the country, and plans to expand it to a 'Comprehensive Situation Room' if the flood and wind disaster crisis alert is raised to 'Severe.'

Through the Flood Countermeasure Situation Room, flood response situations will be comprehensively managed and coordinated, maintaining an organic cooperation system with related agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. After the typhoon situation ends, a recovery support team will be operated to minimize public inconvenience through prompt restoration of environmental facilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.