Gyeonggi Province Governor Orders Continued Emergency Response Preparations for Heavy Snow

Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil has ordered the maintenance of an emergency response system on the 19th and 20th to prevent casualties from heavy snow and ensure uninterrupted traffic flow.

Following the governor's directive, Gyeonggi Province held an "emergency response meeting of related organizations to address heavy snow, cold wave, and high waves" at the Provincial Disaster Situation Room at 3 p.m. on the 19th, presided over by Kim Jung-hun, director of the Provincial Safety Management Office, with city and county disaster directors in attendance.

During this meeting, the province identified 962 facilities within the province at risk of collapse due to heavy snow: 278 aged houses, 321 residential vinyl greenhouses, 30 market structures, 8 aged barns, 206 PED structures, 112 arch panel structures, and 7 others. It also projected that 20 mountainous villages, including Cheongnyong Village in Anseong, with 325 households and 741 residents, could be isolated.

Snow removal vulnerable sections within the province total 277 sections, including Namtaeryeong Pass in Gwacheon, while chronic icing sections total 141 routes spanning 173km, including access roads to Namhansanseong in Seongnam. Areas of concern for casualties from high waves and storm surge include 8 locations in 3 cities and counties, including Pungdo District in Ansan.

As a priority measure for heavy snow, the province has secured snow removal materials, equipment, and personnel in advance. If snow probability is forecast at 60% or higher, it will stand by at traffic-vulnerable points and plans to operate automatic brine-spraying devices with liquid de-icing agents depending on snowfall and spread de-icing materials such as calcium chloride, sand, and salt.

The province has also designated management personnel for facilities at risk of collapse due to heavy snow and areas anticipated to be isolated in mountainous villages, and has established emergency contact networks in advance. In particular, it plans to select priority sequences for snow removal work on roads entering Seoul, highways, and other main routes to concentrate snow removal management.

Additionally, the province will operate a comprehensive support situation room for cold wave countermeasures 24 hours a day and will establish rapid recovery measures in preparation for meter and water pipe freezing damage.

The province will also enhance monitoring of the disaster prediction and warning system for coastal areas, implement warning broadcasts, and pre-control access by fishermen and tourists to coastal areas and restrict dangerous coastal roads and breakwaters.

Kim Jung-hun, Gyeonggi Province Safety Management Director, said, "We will establish an emergency response system and maintain a 24-hour situation management system while doing our utmost to respond preemptively in accordance with weather conditions."

Meanwhile, the Korea Meteorological Administration expects snow beginning on the night of the 19th to accumulate 5 centimeters or more in most regions of Gyeonggi Province, with a maximum of 15 centimeters or more expected in southern regions.