Gyeonggi Province Establishes Immediate Response Measures to Minimize Flooding Damage in Imjin River Basin

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province has established immediate response measures including emergency livelihood support to minimize flooding damage in the Imjin River basin and has conducted advance evacuations of residents from high-risk areas across the province.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 6th, the province evacuated a total of 1,466 residents—1,209 from Yeoncheon County and 257 from Paju—after the water level at Yeongseung Bridge in Yeoncheon County on the Imjin River exceeded 7.5 meters on the 5th, triggering a "Concern" level alert in the inter-Korean border area. Residents are sheltering at a total of 25 temporary evacuation centers including schools, village meeting halls, and community centers. At the temporary evacuation centers, pre-emptive quarantine measures have been implemented to prevent COVID-19 spread, with temperature checks for visitors and distribution of masks and hand sanitizers.
The province has distributed a total of 5,000 emergency relief kits to support residents' urgent livelihood needs and is operating emergency communication and power restoration teams in cooperation with KT and Korea Electric Power Corporation. Additionally, the province is operating disaster scene environmental cleanup teams to focus on rapid recovery.

The water level at Yeongseung Bridge in Yeoncheon County recorded an all-time high of 13.12 meters at around 8 p.m. on the 5th, then gradually declined through the night and early morning, registering 10.35 meters as of 10 a.m. on the 6th.
Meanwhile, as of 7 a.m. on the 6th, the province conducted advance evacuations of 129 residents from landslide-vulnerable areas including Gapyeong and Anseong, and regions of concern for casualties including Anyang and Gapyeong.

Furthermore, on the 5th, the province dispatched five on-site support officials to damage scenes—the director of the Agricultural Technology Institute (Pyeongtaek), director of Urban Housing (Icheon), director of Agriculture and Marine Resources Bureau (Anseong), director of Construction Headquarters (Yeoju), and director of Water Resources Headquarters (Gapyeong)—to inspect the Pyeongtaek Yucheon Drainage Pump Station and the embankment erosion section at Gapyeong Daljeon Stream, and to check emergency evacuation sites at the Anseong Bukjwa Reservoir and flood-damaged residential recovery sites in Yongdam-ri, Sanbuk-myeon, Yeoju.

Executive Vice Governor Kim Hee-gyeom of Gyeonggi Province stated at a heavy rain preparedness meeting held at the Provincial Government Disaster Situation Room on the 6th: "Although water levels are receding, rainfall is prolonged and it coincides with vacation periods, so we must not let our guard down," adding "particularly in areas with rivers and rural areas, you must pay special attention and respond accordingly," directing this to all cities and counties.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province has recorded an average cumulative rainfall of 370.1mm from 0:00 on the 1st through 7 a.m. on the 6th. The areas with the heaviest rainfall include Yeoncheon with 709.5mm, Gapyeong with 586mm, and Yeoju with 494.5mm. During this period, heavy rainfall resulted in 9 casualties including 8 deaths and 1 missing person in Gyeonggi Province, and 285 disaster victims from 163 households. Additionally, damage occurred at 82 landslide sites, 17 agricultural infrastructure facilities including reservoirs, 24 river areas, 361 residential buildings, 1,632.8 hectares of crops, and 2,918 vinyl greenhouses.