Gwangju City "Thorough Preparation for Heat-Related Illnesses Amid Heatwave"

On the afternoon of the 31st, Gwangju Metropolitan City held a mid-term inspection meeting on summer natural disaster countermeasures at the Chungmu Facility of City Hall, jointly with related organizations such as the Gwangju Regional Meteorological Administration, Gwangju Regional Police Agency, the 31st Division, and the 503rd Brigade.

The meeting was organized to discuss countermeasures in response to the recent consecutive heatwave warnings and the high possibility of a powerful typhoon making landfall due to the development of El Ni?o.

Additionally, the meeting shared responses and follow-up plans for landslide erosion and flood damage that occurred during the last rainy season, as well as measures to deal with river flooding, by each agency.

Gwangju City has designated the heatwave countermeasure period until September 30 and is operating a heat-related illness monitoring system and emergency ambulance system through 25 medical institutions.

Heatwave mitigation facilities in the Gwangju area include 576 shade shelters, 2 road sprinkling devices, 2 green integrated rest areas, 24 water mist sprinklers, and 48 other facilities such as road heat-reflective pavements.

First, to help vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone and citizens with mobility difficulties avoid the heat, 2,063 cooling shelters with good accessibility, such as senior centers and administrative welfare centers, have been designated and are being supported. From this year, these cooling shelters can be easily accessed by searching for ‘Mudewi Shelter’ on the Naver map portal site.

In addition, citizens are provided with heatwave action guidelines that they can feel through emergency disaster text messages, electronic display board notifications, village broadcasts, and social network service (SNS) promotions.

Along with this, to ensure the safety of heatwave-vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone and those with mobility difficulties, about 2,080 people including social workers, life support workers, and voluntary disaster prevention teams have been designated as disaster helpers by each autonomous district. They cooperate closely with the districts to check on the elderly living alone by phone and monitor their well-being daily during the special weather warning period to prevent casualties.

Also, to mitigate the heat island effect, road sprinkling devices installed along the 4 km section from Geungnakgyo to Songjeong Station and around the National Asia Culture Center, as well as water sprinkling trucks around densely populated areas, are being fully mobilized to lower the temperature of roads heated by asphalt heat.

As strong typhoons are forecast due to climate change, Gwangju City plans to operate the Regional Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters through step-by-step emergency duty according to weather warnings, maintaining a 24-hour seamless response system.

Before entering the typhoon’s influence zone, emergency disaster text messages, village broadcasts, and disaster warning and alert systems will be used to strengthen guidance for citizens on prohibiting and controlling access to dangerous areas and other national action guidelines.

In addition, through related departments and autonomous districts, preemptive measures such as securing or removing outdoor facilities and signboards will be taken to prepare for wind damage, and safety measures will be implemented for facilities such as large construction sites and building or demolition sites.

Deputy Mayor Moon Young-hoon said, “Gwangju City and related organizations must strive with a mindset of learning from past experiences for the safety of citizens,” and added, “We hope citizens actively participate in practicing disaster-specific action guidelines and follow the instructions.”

Earlier that morning, an emergency inspection meeting on heatwave response was held, chaired by the Disaster Response Policy Officer of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, with related ministries and local governments.

At the meeting, it was ordered to further strengthen the heat-related illness prevention system and to prepare countermeasures for the three major vulnerable groups to heatwaves: elderly farmers, elderly living alone, and outdoor workers at construction sites, by local governments and related ministries.

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