Gwangju City Promotes Preemptive Measures for Summer Natural Disasters

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 15th that it will implement pre-summer natural disaster preparedness measures from April 16 to May 15 to reduce casualties from summer natural disasters such as typhoons and heavy rains, strengthen on-site response capabilities, and establish a rapid recovery system.

The summer natural disaster countermeasure period runs from May 15 to October 15. Although preparations for summer natural disasters usually begin in April, due to the record-breaking third highest heavy rainfall in Gwangju last year, the city will start pre-disaster preparations one month earlier than usual to be better prepared.

During the heavy rain from August 7 to 9 last year, Buk-gu recorded a maximum cumulative rainfall of 533mm, and Nam-gu recorded a maximum hourly rainfall of 82mm. This unprecedented heavy rain caused 4 casualties and massive property damage, prompting plans to make every effort to implement measures to prevent such damage.

First, joint inspections with related organizations will be conducted at 508 flood recovery sites to manage recovery projects to be completed before the rainy season. Based on the consumption of flood control materials used in initial on-site responses, the stockpile and securing status will be checked and fully surveyed to ensure sufficient quantities are secured before the start of the summer natural disaster countermeasure period on May 15.

Additionally, by promptly revising the ‘Flood and Wind Disaster On-site Action Manual’ and the ‘2021 Natural Disaster Action Guidelines,’ the city plans to efficiently manage disasters according to disaster types such as typhoons and heavy rains, and apply disaster response procedures suitable for institutions and local conditions during the pre-countermeasure period.

Furthermore, to promote rapid recovery in case of disaster occurrence, flood insurance subscriptions will be actively promoted to citizens living in high-risk areas such as disaster risk area maintenance project districts and disaster support fund recipient areas where flood damage has occurred.

Moon Beom-su, Director of the City’s Citizen Safety Office, said, “As unprecedented damage is occurring due to heavy rains caused by recent climate change, we will mobilize all administrative power to establish a rapid and effective response system,” and added, “We will do our best to prevent casualties and property damage through thorough pre-summer preparations before the summer season arrives.”

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