794 Areas in Gyeonggi-do at Risk of Human Casualties... Strengthened Management TF Operated

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province will create detailed guideline instructions for 'Areas at Risk of Human Casualties,' which are specially managed through pre-inspections and resident evacuations to minimize damage from wind and flood disasters.

On the 27th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it will operate a 'Special Task Force (TF) for Strengthening Management of Areas at Risk of Human Casualties,' led by the Head of the Natural Disaster Division and composed of the Safety Management Office, Urban Housing Office, River Division, Road Safety Division, and Forest and Greenery Division.

Areas at risk of human casualties are locations or facilities specially designated and managed by city and county governments where accidents are likely during heavy rainfall.

Designated areas have assigned officials such as public servants, community leaders, and autonomous disaster prevention groups, who conduct pre-inspections, control measures, and resident evacuations during dangerous situations, shifting to focused management.

Within the province, there are a total of 794 areas at risk of human casualties, including 196 landslide-prone zones, 101 roads vulnerable to flooding, 59 semi-basement residential areas, 42 steep slopes, 38 riverside parking lots, and 35 flood-prone underground roadways.

The problem is that the designation criteria are not specific, leading city and county governments to designate risk areas passively or arbitrarily, which may result in blind spots where high-risk areas are not designated.

In fact, during this summer's heavy rainfall, some locations where human casualties occurred due to landslides in other local governments were not designated as areas at risk of human casualties.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province plans to clearly designate and manage risk areas by creating detailed guidelines for key management targets such as landslides, rivers, underground roadways, and semi-basement houses through the 'Special Task Force (TF) for Strengthening Management of Areas at Risk of Human Casualties,' enabling unified management standards across cities and counties. They will also add locations not previously managed as risk areas to the list of designated risk areas.

For example, regarding landslide risk areas, which are one category of areas at risk of human casualties, the current standard only includes 'landslide risk areas not included in landslide-prone zones.' The province plans to prepare detailed guidelines by comprehensively analyzing factors such as the distance to nearby river valleys adjacent to residential areas, the impact of debris flow from mountains, and blockage of valley runoff caused by residential development.

Additionally, Gyeonggi Province will strengthen its 'Comprehensive Wind and Flood Disaster Countermeasures' to actively respond to heavy rainfall and typhoons, with a reorganization and implementation planned for August.

Choi Byung-gap, Head of the Safety Management Office of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "Once improvement plans for areas at risk of human casualties, which currently have significant discrepancies across cities, counties, and sectors, are established, the entire Gyeonggi Province will be able to manage these areas under unified standards." He added, "We expect that eliminating blind spots regarding risk factors will further enhance the safety of residents."

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