Start of the Monsoon... Full Efforts to Prevent Flood Damage in Mapo-gu

Our Neighborhood Safety Guardians, Permanent Special Patrol Team for Storm Drains, and Public-Private Cooperation to Manage Storm Drain Safety Until November

Investigation and Maintenance of 500 Semi-basement Houses and Aging Flood Prevention Facilities

Preventing Loss of Life and Property through ‘Flood Disaster Vulnerable Companion Partners’ and ‘Wind and Flood Insurance’ in Case of Flooding

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, urged thorough management of road manholes in preparation for heavy rain.

This summer, with the development of El Ni?o expected to bring heavier rain earlier than usual, Mapo-gu announced that it will make every effort for both preemptive prevention and post-management to prevent flood damage.

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) plans to continuously clean and maintain storm drains in the area, considering that last year the blockage of storm drains on roads was a major cause of flood damage.

First, by the 30th of this month, public and private sectors will cooperate to carry out internal and external cleaning and maintenance of storm drains throughout Mapo-gu.

At major arterial roads and near subway stations, Mapo-gu environmental officers and illegal dumping control teams will be deployed to clean storm drains and crack down on cigarette butt littering around them. In alleys and residential side streets, cleaning workers from the local community centers, resident voluntary cleaning groups, local merchants, and public officials will cooperate to directly carry out environmental cleanup of storm drains.

Additionally, the Mapo-gu Volunteer Center will conduct storm drain inspections through the ‘Our Neighborhood Safety Guardians Project’ until the end of July during the heavy rain period.

Four residents, including activists from the volunteer camps in each of the 16 neighborhoods, will form inspection teams as ‘Our Neighborhood Safety Guardians’ to conduct weekly cleanup activities around storm drains in flood-prone areas of each neighborhood. If storm drains are damaged or if backflow prevention facilities or water barriers need to be installed in semi-basement houses, they will connect with the relevant departments of the district office for action.

Furthermore, a ‘Permanent Special Patrol Team for Storm Drains’ will be formed and operated until November.

Utilizing six sewer mobile team members and ten dedicated storm drain managers, the team will conduct thrice-weekly patrols focusing on the Mangwon-dong area, a key heavy rainfall management zone, and storm drain intensive cleaning areas such as Hongdae Red Road, Seogyo-dong, and Donggyo-dong neighborhoods, striving for safe management of storm drains.

For semi-basement houses expected to suffer severe damage in case of flooding, the district office completed on-site inspections in April with flood prevention facility technicians for 500 households with concerns about aging flood prevention facilities. Maintenance has been carried out on 72 facilities requiring replacement or repair, with completion scheduled by the 30th of this month.

Meanwhile, in the event of an emergency flood despite preventive measures, the district operates ‘Flood Disaster Vulnerable Companion Partners’ composed of care officials and community leaders to assist the rapid evacuation of severely disabled and elderly residents.

To protect residents affected by unavoidable disasters such as wind and flood damage, the district also supports enrollment in ‘Wind and Flood Insurance.’

Upon enrollment, the district supports 70% of the insurance premium for general subscribers, and 78% to 100% for vulnerable groups such as low-income households and basic livelihood security recipients. The insurance guarantees compensation based on the flooded area, which is expected to be a great help to residents facing difficulties.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, stated, “We will thoroughly maintain storm drains in preparation for the full-scale rainy season and future typhoons, and strengthen preemptive patrol activities for semi-basement houses and habitual flood areas.” He added, “We will also actively promote flood response methods to residents and do our best to prepare in advance so that the disaster response system can operate smoothly.”

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