[Opinion] Rain And Streetlight

I drove my car in the middle of torrential rain in the midnight. The road was surrounded by floodwater. Fast moving windshield wiper was useless. It seemed that the car, which was barely moving forward splitting the rainfall, would stop soon. What should I do if the car stops in the middle of water? After a desperate struggle, I finally arrived home. Many people suffered damage that night. Especially, many people were killed by the electric shock due to the electric leakage from the streetlights and signal lights in the road filled with water. What would have happen if I had to walk because the car stopped? The more I think about it, the more terrified I become. This is a story of one white-collar worker.

- How could death by an electric shock occur in the middle of the city? Seoul City and the police had the debate over `evasion of responsibility`. Some of the local governments did not turn on the streetlights or turn them off in the middle of the heavy torrential rainfall this time. Some of the roads turned into the world of darkness, and drivers were at loss which way to go. It must have been a desperate plan. However, it was piteous that we came to this extreme.

- What have the government offices done since the last torrential rainfall? There were 10 days since the last rainfall. The government offices should have taken proper measures in advance, such as inspection of the safety of the electricity facilities on roads and installation of circuit breaker. It was already too late to mobilize the inspection team of the electric leakage after the torrential rain warning was issued. It is concerned that South Korea may be stigmatized as `a country that turns off the streetlights whenever it rains`.

- This is not the end. Many places nationwide were surrounded by floodwater because the drains and water pipes were blocked. Human losses and property damages followed. This is what we experience whenever heavy rain falls. People are already exhausted even before asking for the fundamental preventive measures not to repeat the damages. The Korea Meteorological Administration has forecasted that there will be more rain. An important thing is that consciousness of people, who are responsible for this, should change. If they always blame heaven and only adopt temporary measures each time, flood disaster will continue.

youngeon@donga.com