[Asia Economy (Naepo) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is accelerating flood recovery efforts, focusing on special disaster areas such as Cheonan, Asan, Yesan, and Geumsan. This year, the largest-ever flood recovery budget will be invested, and the province plans to concentrate on permanently improving and maintaining facilities and environments vulnerable to natural disasters.
According to the province on the 21st, a total budget of 333.6 billion KRW, including 219.6 billion KRW in national funds, will be invested in regional flood recovery this year. This is the largest budget ever, 1.6 times the budget secured during the damage caused by Typhoon Gonpas in 2010 (207.8 billion KRW).
Flood recovery will be carried out mainly in four cities and counties: Cheonan, Asan, Yesan, and Geumsan, with the budget also concentrated in these areas. The recovery budget by region is distributed as follows: Cheonan 101.1 billion KRW, Asan 100.3 billion KRW, Yesan 62.2 billion KRW, Geumsan 51.5 billion KRW, and 11 other cities and counties outside the special disaster areas 18.5 billion KRW.
Earlier, Chungnam suffered property damage worth approximately 89.2 billion KRW due to this year’s monsoon, including 83.2 billion KRW in public facilities such as roads and bridges, and 6 billion KRW in private facilities such as houses and farmland. As of the 20th of this month, Chungnam has completed emergency recovery for 99.2% of the total damage.
Furthermore, additional budgets will be invested to carry out permanent improvement and recovery projects rather than simple restoration. The strategy aims to prevent recurring flood damage caused by heavy rains every year.
To this end, the province plans to establish permanent measures for 12 locations, including Gwanggicheon in Cheonan (27.3 billion KRW), Onyangcheon in Asan (37.4 billion KRW), Popyeong District in Geumsan (8.2 billion KRW), and Eumnae District in Yesan (32.1 billion KRW), improving and maintaining facilities and environments in each region to prevent flood damage.
The project schedule will begin this month with the design and ordering of improvement and recovery projects. Small-scale projects under 300 million KRW will be completed by the end of April next year, projects between 300 million KRW and under 5 billion KRW by the end of June next year, and large-scale projects over 5 billion KRW by the end of October.
Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province, said, “Considering the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, we will ensure that local construction companies can participate in all flood recovery projects.” He added, “Also, taking this year’s monsoon as an opportunity, permanent recovery measures responding to natural disasters will be promoted throughout Chungnam, including disaster risk zones and river maintenance project sites.”
Meanwhile, the average cumulative rainfall in Chungnam from July 23 to August 11 was recorded at 512 mm. By region, Yesan County recorded the highest cumulative rainfall (645 mm), and Songak-myeon in Asan City recorded the highest daily rainfall (273 mm).
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