Gyeongnam Province Announces Proactive Measures Against Heatwaves and Landslides

Operation of Countermeasure Situation Room and Dedicated Team, Campaign Deployment

Gyeongsangnam-do announced proactive measures against natural disasters such as scorching heat and landslides this summer on the 15th.

The province has established the 2023 Comprehensive Landslide Prevention Plan for Gyeongsangnam-do and will set up and operate a Landslide Countermeasure Situation Room during the summer natural disaster response period.

According to the province, the response period runs from today until October 15, during which the situation room will focus on protecting residents' lives and minimizing property damage caused by heavy rains, typhoons, and other events.

The provincial Landslide Countermeasure Situation Room will oversee overall command of summer landslide prevention, response, and recovery, including ▲weather information monitoring ▲inspection of city and county responses through the Landslide Information System ▲management of landslide-prone areas ▲recommendation of evacuation orders to residents when necessary ▲and rapid response in case of landslide occurrence.

Situation rooms will also be established and operated in the forestry departments of 18 cities and counties within the province.

This year, continuous inspections and preemptive measures will be carried out using 68 officials and landslide site prevention teams targeting 2,312 landslide-prone areas and large wildfire damage sites.

Focused on landslide-prone areas, 131 erosion control projects such as check dams, which are highly effective in disaster prevention, are being promoted to be completed before the end of June.

Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

To prepare for the summer heatwave, a joint heatwave countermeasure period involving related departments will be operated from the 20th of this month until September 30.

In April, the province provided early support of 600 million KRW from the Disaster Management Fund to cities and counties for operating heatwave mitigation facilities and purchasing heatwave prevention supplies.

By May, 1.19 billion KRW in special disaster safety grants will be allocated to expand heatwave mitigation facilities such as shade shelters, mist spray evaporative cooling systems (cooling fog), and heatwave shelters.

A special dedicated heatwave response team will also be formed, consisting of a human damage prevention unit and a property damage prevention unit.

Key focus areas include ▲customized heatwave measures for residents ▲protection and safety measures for the elderly and outdoor workers ▲and damage prevention in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sectors, with collaboration between related departments and local governments to implement these measures.

An “Happiness SMS Alert Service” will be provided to the elderly and their caregivers, who may have difficulty recognizing weather conditions, using simple messages to inform them of scorching heat situations.

On-site response teams will operate to protect vulnerable groups such as those with poor housing conditions or the homeless, cooling costs will be provided for elderly-headed households, and 2.5 billion KRW in national energy vouchers will be distributed to low-income households to reduce summer cooling expenses.

To protect elderly workers in rice paddies and fields, cooperation among local government officials, community leaders, and voluntary disaster prevention groups will be strengthened to promote awareness during heatwave-vulnerable hours.

Especially this year, an “Ice Water Sharing Campaign” will be conducted to directly provide ice water to field workers.

Promotion of the three major heatstroke prevention rules during outdoor work and strengthened guidance and supervision to ensure compliance with related laws and guidelines will also be implemented to prevent serious accidents among outdoor workers caused by heat.

Separate countermeasure situation rooms will be operated for agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sectors, with preventive measures such as fruit tree damage prevention, modernization of livestock facilities, and expansion of equipment to respond to high water temperatures. Efforts will also focus on responding to energy supply crises through cooperation with related organizations such as Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).

Before the full onset of the heatwave at the end of May, the province plans to directly inspect the operation status of heatwave mitigation facilities and heatwave shelters run by cities and counties and promptly address any deficiencies.

A provincial official stated, “Since this summer is expected to be very hot, we will actively implement heatwave damage prevention measures and respond quickly and systematically to heavy rains and typhoon invasions. We ask residents to drink plenty of water during the hot midday hours and actively cooperate by promptly evacuating according to emergency disaster text alerts such as landslide warnings or advisories.”

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