[Reporter’s Notebook] Even After Losing the Cow, Flooded Areas Must Properly Repair the Barn

Devastating Scenes of Flood Victims in Iksan, Jeonbuk
Aging Drainage Systems Worsen Flood Damage
Urgent National Measures Needed for Outdated Disaster Prevention Facilities

"Please save us. Everything is submerged in water, and the future looks bleak."

On the morning of the 18th, the flood damage site in Mangsang-myeon, Iksan, Jeonbuk, visited for accompanying coverage with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was devastating. The greenhouse farms growing watermelons and lettuce were already submerged up to waist height, and all the crops had been washed away. A foul stench filled the air as leaked oil and sewage mixed together. Houses in the area were flooded inside, with oil floating around, leaving no place to step.

Residents who suddenly lost their homes were gathered in a cramped elementary school auditorium. Due to the sudden flooding, they said they barely escaped with just their bodies, without even properly bringing socks or underwear. The shelter was so poorly equipped that more than 50 residents spent several nights on the cold floor without even a small tent. They knelt before Representative Lee, pleading, "Please save us."

This flood damage was essentially a "foreseen disaster." The Mangsang-myeon area of Iksan City, which suffered flooding, has experienced frequent flood damage over the past several years. Yet, the local drainage pump stations still lacked sufficient capacity to prevent flooding. The drainage facilities, over 40 years old, had been left in a deteriorated state for a long time, failing to operate properly and worsening the flood damage. The area was submerged after nearly 500mm of heavy rain fell over two days, but structural defects such as outdated disaster prevention facilities amplified the flood damage.

This is not just a problem for Iksan City. Other flood-affected areas like Iin-myeon in Gongju also saw residents lose their homes due to malfunctioning disaster prevention facilities, and 50 people lost their lives. The displaced people demand fundamental solutions, saying, "Since this will inevitably repeat in a few years, what is the point of designating a special disaster zone?"

While compensating residents who have immediately lost their livelihoods is urgent, national-level measures are needed to address the insufficient and aging disaster prevention facilities to prevent large-scale flood damage. Climate experts predict that an era of more intense "extreme rainfall" rather than just "localized heavy rain" is coming. An unprecedented disaster is approaching, yet we remain defenseless. Building large-scale disaster prevention facilities anew will allow us to pass on a country safe from flooding to the next generation. If we do not properly repair the barn after losing the cow once, we will never be able to raise cows again.

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