Gwangju Nam-gu to Fully Respond to Heavy Rainfall Until October

Operation of Dedicated Department System for 8 Flood-Prone Areas

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (District Mayor Kim Byeong-nae) announced on the 22nd that it will make an all-out effort to respond until October, when the autumn typhoon passes, to prevent casualties and property damage caused by heavy rain.

They will operate a dedicated department system by district for 8 locations in 7 areas within the district that have a high possibility of flood damage, and plan to expand the citizen management system that manages sewer inlets in cooperation with store owners and residents.

When the emergency level 2 is activated according to heavy rain and typhoon warnings, an on-site operation team will be operated for preemptive response to flood-prone areas.

In particular, by analyzing the damage cases in August 2018 and August 2020 when heavy rain poured, the district office decided to operate a dedicated department system for flood-prone areas by grouping 8 departments within the district office and 6 administrative welfare centers to specially manage 8 locations in 7 areas with a high possibility of flood damage during heavy rain.

The 8 flood-prone locations are ▲Baegun Square ▲Around Baegun Elementary School ▲Around Juwol Middle School ▲Jeongilpum Intersection ▲Moa Obstetrics and Gynecology ▲Around Podowon Church ▲Around Bethel Church ▲Around International Archery Range, with a total of 47 dedicated personnel assigned to each area.

They will be immediately deployed on-site during emergency level 2 activation to carry out flood prevention activities, conduct patrols of their jurisdiction, and perform cleaning and inspection of rainwater drains.

Also, similar to a recent case in Gangnam Station, Seoul, where a citizen manually cleared a drainage pipe blocked by trash and debris, Nam-gu plans to expand the ‘Sewer Inlet Citizen Management System’ where store owners and residents inspect drainage pipes around their residences.

Currently, there are a total of 18 citizen managers active in the district, who have been working mainly around the 8 flood-prone locations since 2021.

Under normal circumstances, they check the cleanliness around the inlets and report to the responsible department, the Construction Division, if cleaning is needed, and on rainy days, they carry out voluntary maintenance activities frequently.

As the importance of sewer inlet management grows, they are encouraging voluntary participation in cooperation with store owners and residents located near drainage outlets, and plan to increase the number of participants.

Sandbags, which change the flow of water during heavy rain, have also been additionally placed in expected flood damage areas.

Earlier, Nam-gu placed about 5,500 sandbags at 45 locations such as lowland apartments and building underground parking entrances by the end of June, and recently supplied an additional 1,350 sandbags to 13 locations within the district.

They distributed 410 emergency sandbags to 5 administrative welfare centers including Jinwol-dong and Wolsan-dong, and plan to place more in the future. Currently, they have 6,160 reserve sandbags in stock.

District Mayor Kim Byeong-nae said, “Since sudden weather situations can occur at any time, we will always be prepared and respond meticulously to minimize damage.”

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