Yongin City Implements Comprehensive Measures Against Summer Floods and Heatwaves

Intensive Inspections of Flood-Prone Roads, Riverside Walkways, and Steep Slopes
Mayor Lee Sangil: "We Will Do Our Best to Ensure Citizens Have a Safe Summer"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province announced on June 10 that it has established and is implementing a "Comprehensive Measures Plan for Summer Natural Disasters, Flood and Wind Damage, Heatwaves, and Lightning" to protect the safety of its citizens from natural disasters.

Lee Sangil, Mayor of Yongin, is presiding over a comprehensive measures meeting to prevent flood and wind damage during the summer season. Provided by Yongin City

The city explained that the focus of this plan is on operating an emergency duty system to ensure there are no gaps in monitoring and strengthening on-site safety management in areas vulnerable to flood damage.

As part of the plan, the city conducted on-site inspections of 57 locations, including roads and riverside walking paths prone to flooding and steep slopes, and repaired entry-blocking facilities that required reinforcement. Inspections of major roads, parking lots, and other transportation facilities are also being carried out to prevent citizens from experiencing traffic inconveniences due to flooding or damage.

The Bojeong-dong riverside parking lot in Giheung-gu will operate a control center 24 hours a day to monitor the inflow and water levels of the Tancheon Stream in real time. In the event of a heavy rain advisory or typhoon warning, parked vehicles will be guided to safe locations, and any remaining vehicles that cannot be contacted will be forcibly towed to a predetermined evacuation site.

For 22 underpasses in the city that are at risk of flooding, the city has designated four-person monitoring teams consisting of city officials, police officers, and community leaders since last year to enable rapid control in emergencies. The city plans to continue regular on-site inspections throughout the summer.

To protect citizens from heatwave-related damage, various countermeasures are also being implemented. A "Heatwave Response Task Force" consisting of 13 departments and 5 teams has been formed to enable a swift response to heatwave damage. The task force is expanding the installation of heatwave mitigation facilities, managing the health of vulnerable groups, and operating cooling shelters as part of a comprehensive plan.

To cool road surfaces and prevent deformation caused by overheating, four water-spraying vehicles will be deployed to spray water along 181 kilometers of urban roads from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. whenever a heatwave advisory or similar high-temperature conditions are expected.

Shade canopies are being installed at crosswalks and traffic islands in busy urban areas. To this end, the city is in the process of installing 55 additional shade canopies this year, and currently operates a total of 1,196 shade canopies across the region.

For seniors who are vulnerable to heatwaves, 74 indoor cooling shelters such as senior centers are open. The city also plans to provide heatwave prevention supplies to vulnerable groups, such as elderly citizens and basic livelihood security recipients, as well as to small construction sites and financial rest areas.

To prevent lightning damage along forest trails, inspections have been completed for four lightning protection facilities on Jeonggwangsan, Gubongsan, and Gwanggyosan mountains to check for any damage or abnormalities. The city will also use lightning information from the Korea Meteorological Administration to collect real-time data and promote public safety guidelines via disaster text boards.

Separately, from May 15 to October 15, during the summer natural disaster response period, the city has established a Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters headed by the mayor and has put in place a 24-hour emergency duty system.

Mayor Lee Sangil stated, "We have prepared a variety of measures to ensure the safety of our citizens from heavy rains, typhoons, heatwaves, and lightning," adding, "We will do our utmost to ensure that citizens can spend the summer safely."