Ministry of Environment Publicly Releases 'Flood Risk Map' Allowing Identification of Flood-Prone Areas

Example of Flood Risk Map.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Environment will publicly release the "Flood Risk Map," which marks flood risk areas around rivers nationwide on a map, on the Flood Risk Map Information System starting from the 5th.

Until now, the Flood Risk Map was created and distributed by the Ministry of Environment (Flood Control Office) to support efficient disaster prevention work by local governments, but citizens had to visit the respective local government offices in person to view it. However, from now on, anyone can easily access it through the Flood Risk Map Information System.

The Flood Risk Map being released this time covers national rivers nationwide (2,892 km) and local rivers in the Han River, Nakdong River, and Geum River basins (18,795 km). By searching the river name on the Flood Risk Map Information System, users can check the flood risk range and flood depth.

The Flood Risk Map shows the flood risk range and depth around river areas according to flood scenarios, with flood depths categorized into five levels by color, ranging from "0.5m or less" to "5m or more."

However, the flood risk range and flood depth shown on the map are hypothetical analysis results based on the flood scenario assuming extreme situations such as levee collapse, and are unrelated to the actual stability of river levees.

Based on the Flood Risk Map, the Ministry of Environment plans to provide comprehensive flood information, including water levels in river areas and flood risk information around river surroundings, starting from May 15, the beginning of the natural disaster countermeasure period for typhoons and floods this year.

In addition, to proactively respond to floods caused by climate change, the Ministry of Environment will actively promote the comprehensive innovation measures for wind and flood disaster response jointly established with related ministries last November. They will strengthen flood defense standards by revising laws and design standards to reflect the increasing flood volumes due to climate change in flood defense facility designs, expand flood control capacity through re-evaluation of multipurpose dams, and actively improve dam operation systems by introducing a dam gate release notification system to prepare downstream residents.

Furthermore, by 2025, the number of flood warning points along rivers will be expanded (from 65 to 218), and the installation of small rainfall radars for predicting localized sudden floods will be increased in major urban areas (from 2 to 9 units). The Ministry plans to expand specialized personnel and equipment to advance flood forecasting.

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