Gyeongnam Swept by Kanun... Minimizing Damage through Preemptive Response and Evacuation Routes

Governor Park Wansu Directly Manages and Leads the Situation

Gyeongnam Province predicted that although Typhoon Khanun, the 6th typhoon, swept through various parts of the province including the southern coast following the recent monsoon, the damage to lives and property would not be significant compared to the scale of the typhoon.

According to the Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters and Changwon Fire Headquarters on the 10th, there were 224 and 163 typhoon-related reports respectively on that day.

Street trees and buildings were toppled, signboards and exterior walls fell off, and there were successive incidents of flooding in farmland, roads, and buildings, river overflows, and power outages, but no major casualties have occurred so far.

Governor Park Wansu of Gyeongnam Province is giving instructions related to Typhoon Khanun response at the Disaster Safety Situation Room.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

Gyeongnam Province stated that this typhoon, which passed through Gyeongnam with slow movement and strong power comparable to Typhoon Rusa in 2002, minimized damage through prior inspections, preemptive evacuations and controls, meticulous situation management, and crisis response.

Before the typhoon approached, thorough pre-monitoring and preemptive evacuations were carried out, and the disaster safety situation room monitored the province’s situation in real time, coordinating with city and county offices, fire departments, and police for immediate response.

Governor Park Wan-su personally monitored CCTV footage from various parts of the province from his office starting on the 9th, overseeing all situations and leading the typhoon preparedness posture.

On the morning of the 10th, when the typhoon entered Gyeongnam, he observed potential flooding risks at Changwoncheon, Namcheon, and Gwangryeocheon rivers through CCTV and ordered emergency responses.

The provincial police agency and fire headquarters were placed on emergency standby to control traffic, maintain order, and respond to rescue requests for casualties.

Gyeongnam Governor Park Wan-su (center) is inspecting the response situation to typhoon damage, including flooding, at the Myeonggok Underpass in Changwon.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government]

After fully preemptively controlling the underground passages in Changwon City, responsible personnel were assigned and 400 troops from the Army’s 39th Division were put on standby, leading disaster management efforts.

Previously, Governor Park had instructed improvements to the natural disaster preemptive preparedness and response system following issues revealed during the response to Typhoon Hinnamnor last year.

As a result, special measures were implemented to prepare for Typhoon Khanun, including ▲establishment of city and county situation management teams ▲building cooperative systems with related agencies ▲division of disaster response tasks ▲inspection and disaster preparedness posture checks by department heads at city and county levels ▲and monitoring of implementation status by the governor.

Pre-inspections were conducted on 24,535 sites across 30 facilities including fisheries and aquaculture facilities, agricultural and livestock facilities, and various construction sites, and 521 locations vulnerable to tidal rises, wave surges, and lowland flooding roads were preemptively controlled.

Emergency inspections were conducted on 1,307 resident evacuation facilities, and 3,013 people from 2,214 households in high-risk areas such as lowland tsunami flood zones were evacuated in advance.

Since June, the disaster safety situation room has proactively strengthened the situation-sharing system among disaster response agencies.

A firefighter is checking changes in the path and intensity of Typhoon Khanun at the Gyeongnam Province Disaster and Safety Situation Room.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

To prepare for a surge in damage reports via 112 and 119 and ensure seamless situation sharing, Gyeongnam Province became the first nationwide to assign two provincial employees each to the Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters and Changwon Fire Headquarters 119 situation rooms and the Gyeongnam Police Agency 112 comprehensive situation room to work together.

The province evaluated that this joint operation enabled faster concentration of equipment and personnel in flood risk areas, landslide, river overflow, and seawater intrusion reports, and rapid role division among agencies.

Governor Park said, “Thanks to the active cooperation of the residents, the typhoon passed without serious damage. I express my gratitude to all residents who endured inconveniences due to preemptive controls and evacuation measures, and we will continue to do our best to protect the lives and property of the residents.”