Anseong-si, Final Snowstorm Damage Amount Last Month Reaches 182.8 Billion Won

3,701 Vinyl Houses, 850 Livestock Facilities, and 6,972 Private Properties Damaged
City to "Accelerate Declaration of Special Disaster Zone"

The final tally of damages caused by the heavy snowfall over two days from the 27th to 28th of last month in the Anseong-si area of Gyeonggi-do reached 182.8 billion KRW.

Anseong-si announced on the 16th that, as of 8 p.m. on the 13th, the damage from the heavy snowfall amounted to a total of 6,993 sites and 182.8 billion KRW, including 21 public facilities (5.4 billion KRW) and 6,972 private facilities (177.4 billion KRW).

Kim Bora (left), Mayor of Anseong, is explaining the damage situation to Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, at a local farm affected by heavy snowfall. Photo by Anseong City

Among the private facilities, the damage was reported as follows: ▲3,701 vinyl greenhouses ▲805 livestock facilities ▲258 factory facilities ▲443 small business owners.

The city initially accepted damage reports through the National Disaster Management System (NDMS) until the 8th, but extended the period to the 13th for additional investigation as related damage reports continued.

The city explained that agricultural facilities such as facility greenhouses, grape rain shelters, and ginseng cultivation facilities, as well as livestock facilities raising cattle and pigs, suffered concentrated damage from the heavy snowfall, causing significant difficulties for farmers’ livelihoods and daily life.

The city plans to expedite the declaration of a special disaster area as the damage assessment concludes. The special disaster area declaration is a system where, in the event of a large-scale disaster, part of the regional recovery costs is supported by the government’s national budget. The process involves damage investigation and review of declaration criteria, deliberation by the Central Safety Management Committee, recommendation to the president, and approval.

A city official stated, "Despite a series of situations including the acting Prime Minister’s authority following the approval of the presidential impeachment motion, all public officials plan to devote themselves unwaveringly to swift damage recovery and restoration of daily life."

Previously, the city invested a total of about 1.98 billion KRW, including city contingency funds and Gyeonggi-do support, to cover snow removal equipment rental fees, equipment repair and fuel costs, demolition of vinyl greenhouses and livestock sheds, disposal of deceased livestock, and manpower support.

An integrated support center is also in operation. The center provides ▲damage complaint reception ▲recovery fund loan consultation ▲consultation on deferral of national pension and tax payments ▲crop disaster insurance consultation ▲deceased livestock rendering and building demolition consultation and support ▲building permit support, among other services.

The city is also implementing support measures for small business owners and companies. It is providing special management fund loans for disaster damage to small and medium enterprises, and plans to support emergency living stabilization funds of up to 10 million KRW for small business owners after a separate review. Additionally, through the disaster psychological recovery support project, the city offers mental health assessments and professional psychological programs via face-to-face or telephone counseling.

Kim Bora, mayor of Anseong-si, said, "Although we are going through a tougher year-end than ever due to large-scale disasters, the presidential impeachment, and economic crises, we will do our utmost together with the citizens to restore not only South Korea but also the spring of Anseong."

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