On May 20, Gyeonggi Province conducted an "Underground Space Evacuation and Control Drill" in Pyeongtaek and Seongnam to minimize flood damage caused by heavy rainfall during the summer and to inspect the rapid response system in the event of a disaster.
The drill was carried out under the scenario of extreme rainfall affecting underground spaces, which is one of the three major types of casualties during summer natural disasters (landslides, rivers, underground spaces). The exercise focused on evacuating residents and implementing preemptive controls at flood-prone facilities such as semi-basement homes and underpasses.
Semi-basement homes are representative flood-prone facilities, as seen in the casualty incident in Sillim-dong, Seoul, during the heavy rainfall in August 2022. In this drill, an evacuation exercise for residents was conducted at a semi-basement home located in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, simulating a flooding situation.
Gyeonggi Province is conducting an underground space evacuation and control drill on the 20th. Photo by Gyeonggi Province
Gyeonggi Province also conducted a preemptive control drill at the Saegyo Underpass in Pyeongtaek. Assuming external flooding due to the overflow of nearby rivers, the city remotely operated an automatic barrier system from the Pyeongtaek City Hall situation room. Four designated personnel?including road management agencies, local government officials, civilian assistants, and police?blocked the road on-site and directed vehicles to detour routes as part of the drill.
The Saegyo Underpass actually experienced flooding in July and September last year, similar to the drill scenario, before the automatic barrier system was installed. However, due to the disaster authorities' prompt preemptive control measures, there were no casualties.
Lee Jongdon, Director of Safety Management at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "Underground spaces such as semi-basement homes and underpasses are among the facilities most at risk of casualties during heavy rainfall in the summer. We ask for active cooperation with the disaster prevention authorities in the event that the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters issues control or evacuation orders due to unavoidable weather conditions this summer."
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