Pohang City Conducts Realistic River Collapse and Urban Flooding Evacuation Drill to Ensure Citizen Safety

Improving Disaster Response Through Drills:
Addressing Shortcomings and Sharing Best Practices to Enhance Capabilities
Focusing on Preventing Casualties with Household Responsibility,
Designated Evacuation Shelters, and Enforced Evacuation

On August 11, Pohang City conducted a "River Collapse and Urban Flooding On-Site Response and Resident Evacuation Drill" across the city to protect the lives and property of its citizens in preparation for late August and September, when typhoons are most frequent.

Pohang City Conducts Practical Training for Resident Evacuation Due to River Collapse and Urban Flooding. Photo by Pohang City

This drill was organized to strengthen response capabilities by simulating river collapse and urban flooding caused by super typhoons and unpredictable extreme rainfall.

Relevant city departments, associated agencies, safety organizations, local volunteer groups, and residents participated in the drill. They established a household responsibility system and practiced swiftly evacuating residents from high-risk areas.

Each town and district held its own situation assessment meetings to share on-site information and broadcast public announcements. They controlled access to areas at risk of casualties and guided residents to designated "river overflow evacuation shelters" located on the second or third floors of buildings.

Residents who refused to evacuate were forcibly evacuated with police assistance, and preemptive control was strengthened in flood-prone areas such as landslide risk zones and areas near rivers.

After the drill, a debriefing session was held to address shortcomings, share best practices, gather feedback from residents and organizations through a training inspection team, and plan for repeated drills to further enhance response capabilities.

Mayor Lee Kangdeok emphasized the importance of "improving disaster response capabilities through realistic drills to prepare for extreme rainfall and super typhoons." He stated, "We will actively promote evacuation routes and river collapse evacuation shelters so that citizens are well informed, and we will do our utmost to take proactive measures to prevent any loss of life."

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