Response to Heavy Rain Advisory: Mapo District Holds Emergency Countermeasure Meeting

On July 16, Mapo District in Seoul (Mayor Park Gangsu) announced that it had urgently convened an emergency countermeasure meeting at the Disaster and Safety Situation Room of the Mapo District Office in response to the Korea Meteorological Administration's issuance of a heavy rain advisory for Seoul at 4:00 p.m.

Park Gangsu, Mayor of Mapo District, and related department heads are holding an emergency countermeasure meeting to prepare for flood and water damage in response to the issuance of a heavy rain advisory. Provided by Mapo District.

The meeting was personally presided over by Park Gangsu, Mayor of Mapo District, and was attended by key executives including the Deputy Mayor, Director of the Administrative Support Bureau, Director of the Transportation and Construction Bureau, and heads of departments related to disaster and safety. They urgently checked the real-time rainfall situation, the status of flood-prone areas within the district, and the preparedness of response measures.

At the meeting, the Water Management Division reported that it had completed preemptive dredging and cleaning of 25,237 storm drains throughout Mapo District. The division also reported that response personnel, including the Water Management Division's mobile team, 20 private contractors for flood control, and Donghaeng Partners (care officials), were fully prepared for deployment.

Depending on the weather conditions, Mapo District plans to restrict access to three rivers within the district?World Cupcheon, Seongsancheon, and Hyangdongcheon?including the Mangwon Retarding Basin.

In particular, the district will proactively use disaster text message billboards, alert and warning facilities, and the disaster text messaging system to disseminate real-time information. It also plans to conduct preemptive inspections of areas at risk of casualties and encourage residents in regions with significant preceding rainfall to evacuate in advance, as part of proactive safety measures.

Meanwhile, before the heavy rain advisory was issued, Mayor Park visited the riverside near World Cupcheon to check the operational status of disaster text message billboards. He also inspected the readiness of the river access control system, alert and warning systems, and the AI-based flood prevention system for underpasses to ensure they can operate promptly during heavy rainfall.

He also visited the wooden deck section in the Seollem-gil area of Seongsandong to carefully check for any risks of flooding or damage and continued on-site inspections to ensure the safety of residents' passage.

Mayor Park emphasized, "We must respond sensitively to real-time changes in the situation on the ground," and added, "Each department and local community center should continuously monitor weather conditions and thoroughly remove storm drain covers around residential areas and back roads to help prevent flooding."

Starting at 4:30 p.m. on the same day, Mapo District activated the first stage of its Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for flood and water damage, maintaining an emergency work system across all departments and focusing all efforts on responding to the situation in preparation for a maximum expected rainfall of 150mm.