Snow has stopped, but... Record-breaking snowfall keeps recovery efforts sweating through the Christmas holiday

On the 23rd, when a heavy snow warning was issued, vehicles stranded by the heavy snow are parked on Sangmu-daero, Seo-gu, Gwangju. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Local governments are working hard on recovery efforts during the holiday period following record-breaking snowfall over four days ahead of Christmas.

As the snow has stopped, reports of facility house collapses and crop damage are increasing, and recovery work is expected to continue until the end of the year.

According to local governments nationwide on the 25th, in Jeonbuk, where more than 60 cm of heavy snow fell from the 21st to the 24th, 236 cases of facility collapse damage were reported. These included 5 buildings, 189 vinyl greenhouses, and 42 livestock facilities.

Reports of crop damage have also continued. In four cities and counties including Iksan, Jeongeup, Imsil, and Buan, facility crops and field crops were buried under the accumulated snow and froze.

In two villages in the Sunchang area, 343 households experienced water outages due to frozen water pipes, but restoration has now been completed and water supply has returned to normal.

The damage situation in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, where up to 40 cm of heavy snow fell, has also slightly increased. In Jeonnam, 91 buildings across 56 facility greenhouses covering 53,240㎡ and 23 buildings across 9 livestock facilities covering 8,647㎡ suffered heavy snow damage. The facility greenhouses were mainly concentrated in the Damyang area with 42 buildings across 27 farms and the Jangseong area with 36 buildings across 21 farms. The estimated property damage from the heavy snow amounts to a total of 814 million KRW, including 466 million KRW for facility greenhouses and 348 million KRW for livestock facilities.

In Jeonnam, six roads, mainly mountain passes, remain closed.

Local governments are accelerating snow removal efforts by deploying additional equipment such as excavators and having public officials work emergency shifts.

Snow removal work is also in full swing in Seocheon, Chungnam, where up to 30 cm of snow fell.

Seocheon County has urgently allocated 230 million KRW from contingency funds and deployed 64 snow removal vehicles to clear the accumulated snow.

With major arterial roads and local roads mostly cleared, city bus services that were partially suspended the previous day have resumed. However, snow still remains on mountain and village roads, causing ongoing inconvenience for residents.