Gyeonggi-do Installs Flood Prevention Facilities in 2,500 Underground Parking Lots and Semi-basement Houses

by Lee YeongKyu

Published 18 Apr.2023 08:20(KST)

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Gwanggyo New Office Building

Gyeonggi Province will install flood prevention facilities such as water barriers and backflow prevention devices at 2,523 locations, including underground parking lots of apartment complexes and semi-basement houses across the province, by June to prevent flooding accidents caused by heavy summer rains.

This project will invest 6.83 billion KRW from the Gyeonggi Province Disaster Management Fund and other sources to support the installation costs of flood prevention facilities for 223 apartment complex underground parking lots and 2,300 semi-basement houses. Up to 20 million KRW will be provided for apartment complexes and 2 million KRW for general houses.

The support targets were determined through demand surveys by city and county offices based on areas that have experienced past flood damage, proximity to rivers, or low-lying areas below the highest river water level, out of a total of 4,610 apartment complex underground parking lots and 8,861 semi-basement houses.

Water barriers temporarily block rainwater on the road surface, which cannot flow into rivers due to heavy rain, from entering low-lying areas. They are mainly installed in front of underground parking lot entrances and exits or at windows and entrances of semi-basement houses.

Backflow prevention devices prevent rainwater from flowing back through drainage pipes instead of draining properly in semi-basement houses. These are installed in kitchen drains and bathrooms.

The province aims to complete the installations by June to minimize damage this summer. In the long term, disaster prevention projects such as river improvement works and expansion of drainage pump stations will be promoted to strengthen drainage capacity.

Oh Byeong-kwon, the first deputy governor of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized, "In addition to supporting the installation of flood prevention facilities, Gyeonggi Province is strengthening on-site inspections in areas at risk of human damage such as riversides and densely populated semi-basement areas. We have also assigned responsible officials for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled. Our top priority in preparation for this summer is minimizing human casualties, and we will focus on disaster prevention."

Meanwhile, in August last year, heavy rains with a cumulative precipitation of up to 690mm fell across the Seoul metropolitan area, flooding two apartment complex underground parking lots in Gyeonggi Province and damaging about 160 vehicles. Additionally, 4,005 semi-basement houses were flooded, causing property damage worth 8 billion KRW and displacing approximately 1,900 residents.