Jeonnam Jangheung County Council Urges Declaration of Special Disaster Area for Flood-Affected Regions

Farmland (3,800 ha), Housing Flooding and Damage Causing Over 10 Billion Won in Losses

Urging the National Assembly and Relevant Central Ministries to Declare a Special Disaster Area

Jangheung County Council urged the declaration of Jangheung County as a special disaster area due to heavy rain damage at the 2nd plenary session of the 267th extraordinary meeting. (Photo by Jangheung County)

[Jangheung＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] The Jangheung County Council in Jeollanam-do (Chairman Yoo Sang-ho) announced on the 16th that it adopted a resolution urging the declaration of a ‘Special Disaster Area in Jangheung County’ due to damage caused by heavy rain at the 2nd plenary session of the 267th extraordinary meeting, and sent it to the National Assembly and relevant central government departments.

During this heavy rain period (from the 5th to the 6th), localized heavy rain exceeding 50mm per hour and gusts over 20m/s caused more than 500mm of rainfall, resulting in not only casualties but also property damage exceeding 10 billion won and over 100 displaced residents.

In the resolution, the county council stated, “The residents of Jangheung County have been living in indescribable suffering due to the damage from this heavy rain while the local economy has noticeably stagnated amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic,” and expressed that “although the public and private sectors are mobilizing all manpower and equipment to restore the damage, the poor financial situation of the local government makes it impossible to cope.”

Council member Wang Yoon-chae (Chairman of the Council Operations Committee), who proposed the resolution, said, “As administrative power was intensively deployed to the flood-affected areas and damage surveys were conducted simultaneously, the damage status exceeded the criteria for designation as a special disaster area,” and added, “Due to the record-breaking heavy rain causing enormous human and material damage, permanent flood recovery is absolutely insufficient given the poor local financial situation, so we strongly request the government to declare it a special disaster area to ensure that damage recovery and support for affected residents proceed without disruption.”