Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok Fully Committed to Disaster Countermeasures Until the End of the Monsoon Season

Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok urged that disaster countermeasures be prioritized until the end of the rainy season.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 24th, Governor Kim held a disaster countermeasure briefing in the morning and visited the flood damage site in Mokpo and the site of concern for river flooding in Hampyeong to assess the situation.

In Jeonnam, an average of 83.5mm of rain fell over two days until the morning of that day. Localized heavy rain fell with 215.3mm in Muan, 193.3mm in Hampyeong, and 189.7mm in Mokpo.

Especially in the early morning in the western region, heavy rain of about 60mm per hour poured down. It was forecasted that from the night to early morning until the morning of the 25th, 50-100mm of rain would fall mainly at night and dawn, with some areas receiving over 150mm, and heavy rain of about 30mm per hour.

This sudden heavy rain caused various property damages including 2 cases of underground parking lot flooding, 37 cases of house flooding, 10 commercial buildings flooded, 7 locations of road flooding and slope collapse, and 817 hectares of farmland flooded.

Governor Kim said, “Watching the heavy rain, I deeply felt that we cannot let our guard down even for a moment,” and added, “Since sudden and guerrilla-type heavy rain can occur anytime, please do your best until the situation ends.”

He continued, “This rain caused a lot of flooding damage in urban areas,” and emphasized, “Prepare for urban flooding by removing debris in low-lying and frequently flooded areas and checking the operation of underground road blocking facilities.”

Along with this, he said, “Landslides are occurring not only in existing risk areas but also in unmanaged areas,” and instructed a reinspection of artificially developed areas such as solar power installation mountain areas.

He also urged, “Although Jeonnam has so far avoided major damage due to dispersed rainfall, sudden heavy rain beyond expectations like on the evening of the 23rd can occur, so prioritize disaster response and concentrate all administrative power.”

He then expressed gratitude to related agencies, saying, “I thank the related agencies such as the National Police Agency, Fire Headquarters, Korea Rural Community Corporation, and Korea Electric Power Corporation for their cooperation so far,” and added, “Please strengthen the cooperation system to promptly prevent disaster accidents in the future.”

Before the countermeasure meeting, Governor Kim Young-rok visited Samgeori in Seokhyeon-dong, Mokpo, which suffered flood damage, and urged rapid restoration. The damaged area is a place where flooding in urban areas frequently occurs due to the low height of the embankment in the middle and upper reaches of Imseongcheon and Samhyangcheon during heavy rain.

Designated as a natural disaster risk improvement district in the Imseong area in 2020, administrative procedures such as detailed design will be completed by December, and from February 2024, a project including pipeline improvement and small stream maintenance will begin with a budget of 42.7 billion won.

After the countermeasure meeting, Governor Kim Young-rok immediately visited Wongomakgyo in School-myeon, where river flooding in Hampyeong is a concern, and Yeoncheon Village Hall in Singwang-myeon, an evacuation site for residents, to check the response to heavy rain damage and ensure the safety of evacuated residents.

At Wongomakgyo, the water level of Gomakwoncheon rose to 5.9m at 9 a.m. that day, approaching the flood level of 6.2m. Accordingly, 11 residents at risk of flooding from Gomakwoncheon were urgently evacuated to the village hall, and two drainage pumps were operated to control the water level. As a result, as of 11 a.m., the water level was stably maintained at 5.4m.

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