[Seoul Autonomous District News] Park Junhee, Gwanak-gu Mayor, Directly Leads On-Site Recovery of Traditional Markets, Flooded Houses, Gwanak Clean Center on the 10th; Emergency Restoration and Safety Measures for Flooded Houses, Road Facility Damage, Landslide Losses... Yeongdeungpo-gu Deploys Over 1,200 Personnel Including Officials, Volunteers, and Soldiers for Recovery Work; Swift Collection of Flood Waste from Flooded Houses to Minimize Resident Inconvenience... Kim Gilseong, Jung-gu Mayor, Inspects Heavy Rain Damage at Jungbu Market and Inhyeon Market
Unprecedented heavy rain has caused successive flood damages.
Accordingly, district heads in autonomous districts such as Gwanak-gu in Seoul have stepped forward to promptly promote flood damage recovery.
◆ Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, directly leads on-site damage recovery at traditional markets, flooded houses, and Gwanak Clean Center
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Amid ongoing damage in the central region of Seoul due to record-breaking heavy rain in 80 years, Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is making every effort to recover from the flood damage.
On the morning of the 10th, Mayor Park Jun-hee chaired an emergency disaster safety countermeasure meeting by department and immediately visited Sinsa Market to inspect the damage situation and listen to the difficulties of merchants.
Mayor Park said, “Traditional markets, already struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis, have been further hit by flood damage, deepening the merchants’ worries,” adding, “We will spare no necessary support so that the affected merchants can stabilize as soon as possible.”
As of the 10th, flooding and leakage damages, large and small, were confirmed at 13 traditional markets with 164 stores located in the area. In particular, Gwanak Sinsa Market suffered flooding damage to about 100 stores as rainwater backflowed due to the record-breaking heavy rain.
The district is conducting a rapid damage survey on traditional markets and small business owners in the area, carrying out emergency electrical safety inspections within the markets to prevent secondary accidents such as electric shocks, and repairing electrical facilities.
Afterwards, Mayor Park visited houses near Jowon Elementary School and the Byeoksan Blooming Apartments in Samsung-dong, which were damaged by the heavy rain, conducted on-site inspections, and urged related departments to promptly restore water and power outages and take swift measures to prevent further damage.
In the afternoon, he visited the flood damage recovery site at Gwanak Clean Center to check whether it was operating normally and instructed to promptly resolve issues such as road damage debris, soil runoff, and sediment caused by the flood so that the residents would not be inconvenienced.
Especially, Mayor Park directly contributed to public support for damage recovery by visiting flooded houses in Sinsa-dong, helping with organizing flooded households and home appliances and waste disposal. (Photo)
Currently, the district is conducting emergency recovery by mobilizing manpower and equipment targeting damaged areas and facilities such as ▲flooded houses ▲damaged roads and sewage facilities ▲landslides and slope erosion, while conducting on-site inspections and patrols by each department to prevent additional damage.
Due to this flood damage, about 140 victims were urgently evacuated to 17 temporary shelters such as community centers, senior centers, lodging facilities, and schools, and emergency relief sets and cooking relief sets were provided.
Also, on the 10th, 210 soldiers from the 52nd Infantry Division, 380 volunteers, and personnel from functional organizations by neighborhood continued to lend helping hands at the flood recovery sites.
In particular, the district is promoting local tax support measures for affected residents, such as extending local tax payment deadlines, deferring collection, and postponing tax audits, to assist residents suffering from the heavy rain.
Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “It is very regrettable that many damages such as road and house flooding occurred due to the record-breaking heavy rain. The district will promptly recover the damage and prepare disaster relief funds to support residents so they can return to a safe daily life,” adding, “We will maintain a real-time response posture until the situation ends and concentrate all administrative power to prevent additional damage.”
◆ Yeongdeungpo-gu, full-scale flood damage recovery with over 1,200 personnel including public officials, volunteers, and soldiers
Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) has launched an all-out response to quickly recover from flood damage and protect the safety of residents. As record-breaking heavy rain poured mainly in the Seoul area on the 8th and 9th, flooding damage spread, prompting the district to focus all its capabilities on emergency response.
First, the district inspected damage sites such as houses and roads, thoroughly grasped the current status, and ensured safety measures and public support.
On the day of the heavy rain, 14 temporary shelters were set up near residential areas for flood victims, with an average of 98 people using them daily. Relief supplies such as bottled water, blankets, and toiletries were distributed, and meals were provided to minimize inconvenience.
Additionally, the district is mobilizing various equipment to maintain river surroundings and repair damaged roads, while more than 1,200 personnel?including all public officials except essential staff, volunteers, and soldiers?have been deployed to heavily affected areas to support drainage work, cleaning, and organizing flooded households.
Along with this, the district is accelerating the collection and disposal of flood waste such as household goods and home appliances discharged from flooded houses. Judging that leaving them unattended could cause odors, pests, and additional damage, since the 9th, emergency collection work has been carried out mainly in alleys and side roads where many wastes were piled up, together with about 150 soldiers from the 52nd Infantry Division of the Army.
Furthermore, natural disaster damage report desks have been set up at 18 neighborhood community centers. The district plans to accept damage reports from households affected by flooding, review documents, conduct on-site inspections, and provide disaster relief funds according to the damage situation. If visiting is difficult, online damage reports can be submitted through the National Disaster Safety Portal.
In particular, the district has launched a full survey to proactively identify and support vulnerable residents living in low-lying areas such as semi-basements and basements. About 4,500 residents requiring special protection, including elderly living alone, severely disabled living alone, basic livelihood security recipients, and near-poverty groups, were contacted by phone or visit to check their well-being and provide information on flood damage reporting, evacuation shelters, and emergency support.
Moreover, the district is focusing on safety inspections of major construction sites and surveillance and on-site measures for vulnerable facilities such as old houses, residential slopes (stone walls, retaining walls), and road facilities.
Mayor Choi Ho-kwon of Yeongdeungpo-gu has been on overnight emergency duty with staff at the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters since the heavy rain began on the 8th. He held emergency meetings with working departments, discussed response systems by department, and carefully monitored damage and recovery processes by visiting sites directly.
On the 10th, Mayor Choi visited the flood recovery site in Daerim-dong, encouraged soldiers and volunteers, supported recovery efforts, and listened to the difficulties of residents affected by flooding. After inspecting the site, he urged more attention to swift recovery and minimizing damage so residents can return to daily life as soon as possible.
Ji Bu-geun, head of the Flood Control Division of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “Putting residents’ safety first, all staff are making every effort for flood recovery,” adding, “Since heavy rain is forecast again on the 11th, we will closely monitor the situation and thoroughly prepare to prevent additional damage.”
◆ Kim Gil-sung, Mayor of Jung-gu, visits Jungbu Market and Inhyeon Market to inspect heavy rain damage
Kim Gil-sung, Mayor of Jung-gu, Seoul, visited traditional markets in the area to inspect damage caused by heavy rain.
Jung-gu has the largest number of traditional markets among Seoul’s 25 districts, with 39 markets. Notably, many markets are over 50 years old, such as Bangsan Market and Pyeonghwa Market, and Namdaemun Market, which has the largest number of stores, attracts many residents and tourists.
On the afternoon of the 8th, Mayor Kim visited Jungbu Market and Inhyeon Market to check the heavy rain damage and listen to merchants’ difficulties. This visit was arranged to understand the damage situation of traditional markets caused by the heavy rain starting on the 8th and to respond promptly.
During the visit, inspections were conducted on ▲market stores ▲rainwater inlets and drainage channels ▲roads ▲other disaster-vulnerable facilities, and fortunately, no damage was found.
Besides traditional markets, only two damage reports were filed in the area, with no major casualties or property damage. The ability to safely overcome the heavy rain situation was possible due to prior inspections preparing for various disaster situations.
In particular, during the first half of the year, Jung-gu cleaned and inspected all 15,027 rainwater inlets in the area, replaced all aged inlets with new ones, and installed new ones where needed.
They removed stones and rubber mats covering the rainwater inlets and used suction dredgers to remove trash such as beverage cans, vinyl, plastic containers, and leaves.
Thanks to these efforts, there were no reports of water pooling or flooding in the area during this heavy rain.
Additionally, when heatwaves or heavy rain are expected, the district sends notification texts to residents and all public officials conduct regular welfare check calls through 1:1 matching with vulnerable groups. Last month, this led to discovering an elderly person who had collapsed at a recipient’s home that was unreachable by phone.
On the 8th and 9th, a total of 222 public officials were on emergency duty, patrolling and inspecting disaster-prone areas, large construction sites, retaining walls, embankments, and underground passages.
Mayor Kim Gil-sung of Jung-gu said, “During this heavy rain situation, Jung-gu was able to minimize damage through thorough prior prevention,” adding, “Prevention may not be noticeable in normal times, but it plays a greater role than anything else during disaster situations, so we will continue to make every effort in prevention.”
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