Gwangmyeong Launches "Resident Evacuation Support Team" for Storm and Flood Preparedness... One-on-One Protection for Vulnerable Groups

22 Vulnerable Residents, Including Elderly and Disabled, Identified
One-on-One Matching With Support Team Members Familiar With the Community
From Home Visits to Emergency Shelter Escort
Establishing a Comprehensive, Close-Contact Management System

On April 3, the city of Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province announced that it will operate a "Resident Evacuation Support Team" to protect citizens' safety from summer storm and flood disasters.

Gwangmyeong City Hall exterior. Provided by Gwangmyeong City

The "Resident Evacuation Support Team" is an organization formed around the local community, including voluntary disaster prevention members, Saemaeul Association members, neighborhood and block leaders, and civil servants. Its role is to guide residents to evacuate quickly in the event of a disaster. This year, the city has designated a total of 489 people as support team members across 19 districts.

In particular, this year the city has established an even stronger safety net by introducing a "one-on-one dedicated matching" system for vulnerable groups who have difficulty evacuating during disasters, such as elderly people living alone and severely disabled individuals.

Earlier, in collaboration with the Elderly Welfare Division and the Disability Welfare Division, the city identified 22 residents living in high-risk areas who have difficulty evacuating on their own as "priority evacuation subjects."

Evacuation support team members regularly visit their assigned households to provide guidance on emergency contact information and evacuation routes, as well as continuously check for nearby hazards, ensuring a close-contact management system.

If an evacuation advisory or order is issued due to a disaster situation such as a heavy rain warning, team members will immediately visit the relevant households, accompany the residents to shelters, and provide meticulous support throughout the process to ensure their safety and comfort at the shelters.

Choi Hyemin, acting mayor (deputy mayor) of Gwangmyeong, stated, "As unpredictable extreme weather events occur more frequently due to climate change, the role of a field-oriented evacuation system is more important than ever. We will make every effort to prevent any loss of life this summer through a tight-knit safety net where neighbors help neighbors."

Additionally, to strengthen the practical response capabilities of the support team, the city will conduct a "joint on-site training exercise with relevant agencies" with the Gwangmyeong Police Station and Gwangmyeong Fire Station at the Soha drainage pump station and along the Mokgamcheon stream on April 7 and 10. The training will include everything from disseminating civil defense information and practicing one-on-one accompanied evacuations, to hands-on exercises handling flood control equipment such as submersible pumps and flood barriers in simulated flood conditions.

Before the summer natural disaster response period (May 15 to October 15), the city plans to have all support team members visit their assigned households to check the residents' health status and complete in-person training, focusing administrative resources on field-centered disaster preparedness.

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