[Interview] Choi Ho-gwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor: "Preventing Flood Damage at the Source through Flood Warning Systems"

‘Flood Cause Analysis and Countermeasure Establishment Service’, Complete Household Survey and Customized Countermeasure Preparation

Focused Management of Storm Drains, Completion of Dredging for a Total of 25,516 Units, and Operation of ‘Cleaning Day’

‘Flood Forecast and Warning System’ Expected to Greatly Help Protect the Golden Time for Damage Prevention

‘Companion Partner’ Helps Evacuate 205 Households Including Severely Disabled, Preventing Casualties

“Flood preparedness is a process of erasing the word ‘force majeure.’ We will do our best to ensure that damages like those last year do not occur through thorough preparation.”

Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, expressed his determination to prepare for flood damage ahead of the rainy season. In August last year, heavy rain exceeding 111mm per hour fell in Yeongdeungpo-gu. 5,129 households and commercial buildings were submerged, and more than 10,000 people became flood victims.

Yeongdeungpo-gu plans to use last year’s flood as a lesson to implement more thorough preventive measures to fundamentally block damage. Flood prevention measures can be broadly divided into flood prevention and casualty prevention measures.

First, to prevent flooding, 1.5 billion KRW has been invested in conducting a ‘Flood Cause Analysis and Countermeasure Establishment Service.’ Mayor Choi said, “We are preparing customized countermeasures for each household through a complete survey of flooded households,” adding, “We will prepare short- and long-term measures by creating flood trace maps and disaster maps to identify risk factors and devise removal plans.”

In addition, management of storm drains, an important disaster prevention facility, has been significantly strengthened. There are a total of 25,516 storm drains in the area. This is a large number and a difficult facility to manage. To maintain proper function, they must be regularly maintained to prevent accumulation of trash and fallen leaves.

Therefore, the first round of dredging for all storm drains has been completed, and maintenance work will continue intermittently until the end of the year. To raise residents’ awareness, a ‘Storm Drain Cleaning Day’ is operated, encouraging residents in each neighborhood to maintain storm drains. Mayor Choi also participated in storm drain maintenance volunteer work on June 10, following his participation in March. On June 16, ahead of the rainy season, extensive storm drain maintenance will be conducted by public officials and residents in all 18 neighborhoods. Furthermore, 20 flood response task force members will be deployed during heavy rain to remove covers and implement a responsibility management system, showing great effort in storm drain management.

Deployment of portable and mobile water barriers has also been completed. The mobile water barrier is fence-shaped and easier to move and install compared to sandbags. The portable water barrier is a disaster prevention facility that acts as a temporary dam, measuring 50cm in height and 10m in length. It is expected to be highly effective in preventing flooding in underground parking lots and other areas. Additionally, 640 more pumps have been added, bringing the total to 1,853 units. Installation of 2,680 backflow preventers and 1,435 water barriers has been completed at 720 locations including underground houses and small commercial buildings.

Along with this, Yeongdeungpo-gu stated, “Protecting the lives of residents is the most important mission,” and is implementing technology-based systems such as the ‘Flood Forecast and Warning System’ and ‘Companion Partner.’ The Flood Forecast and Warning System is an emergency alert system established to supplement the lack of separate forecasts for heavy rain, typhoons, and floods. A flood forecast is issued when rainfall exceeds 55mm per hour or 20mm per 15 minutes, or when road water level gauges indicate flooding depth exceeding 15cm. Additionally, the decision to escalate to a ‘flood warning’ is made based on on-site inspections and CCTV monitoring. When a warning is issued, disaster safety messages are sent to prevent damage. Mayor Choi said, “This will greatly help flood prevention by protecting the golden time needed for installing flood barriers or evacuation.”

‘Companion Partner’ is a system where one care public official, one neighborhood leader, and about three nearby residents form a team to assist vulnerable households. Twenty households living in semi-basements, including severely disabled and elderly residents, have been selected to receive regular patrols and evacuation assistance during flood forecasts and warnings to prevent casualties. Additionally, 185 households with past flood history or flood risk have been selected as general management households and matched one-to-one with care public officials.

Besides these, Yeongdeungpo-gu is the first in Seoul to provide a ‘Disaster and Safety Facility Location Information Service’ through QR codes on building number plates, offering location information for sandbag boxes and temporary housing facilities. They are also making every effort to prevent flood damage by installing fall prevention facilities on manholes. Mayor Choi Ho-kwon said, “This summer, the risk of flood damage due to the super El Ni?o is higher than ever, so special attention is needed,” adding, “Having overcome last year’s record heavy rain without a single casualty, we will block flood damage at its source this year with even more thorough preparation.”

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