Gwangju City Launches Full-Scale Winter Natural Disaster Response System

Operation of Winter Natural Disaster Response Period for Heavy Snow and Cold Waves Until March Next Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 23rd that it has designated the period until March 15 next year as the ‘Winter Natural Disaster Countermeasure Period’ and has launched an all-out response system to minimize damage to citizens' lives and property from winter natural disasters such as heavy snow and cold waves.

During the countermeasure period, weather conditions will be monitored 24 hours a day to prepare for heavy snow and cold waves, and emergency duty teams will be operated in stages according to weather warnings to prevent damage and minimize inconvenience to citizens through rapid initial response.

First, as part of the pre-preparation posture inspection, on the 22nd of last month, a video conference was held with local civil, government, and military participants including the Construction Machinery Association, Heat Management Construction Association, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), KT, the 503rd Brigade, the National Police Agency, and the Office of Education to discuss establishing a mutual cooperation system for securing snow removal personnel, equipment, and materials, as well as rapid initial response and emergency recovery support plans through role-sharing in disaster preparedness.

On the 5th, a joint heavy snow response drill was conducted with the participation of seven related organizations to promote snow removal on 488 road routes totaling 641 km within the jurisdiction.

Additionally, snow removal equipment and materials have been secured for thorough preparation, and to address issues identified last year, improvements such as establishing cooperation systems for snow removal sections by road management authorities and expanding the use of eco-friendly snow removal agents will be implemented in preparation.

That afternoon, Deputy Mayor Kim Jong-hyo visited the General Construction Headquarters office in Bonchon-dong to inspect 26 snow removal vehicles and a total of 1,132 tons of snow removal materials, including 274 tons of eco-friendly snow removal agents, and encouraged road snow removal personnel while reviewing the preparation status.

Deputy Mayor Kim Jong-hyo said, “This winter’s situation is similar to last year’s, but we must establish a rapid response system for heavy snow and road icing and prepare accordingly,” adding, “Please make efforts to minimize citizen inconvenience by conducting snow removal work in habitual icing areas and ensuring that snow removal materials are definitely placed in black ice zones where melted snow refreezes to form thin ice layers.”

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