Angry Residents Call for Disaster Declaration

As the sunny weather continues for three straight days in the flood-stricken southern province of Gyeongnam on August 19, waters began to recede rapidly from the submerged Kimhae, Haman and Hapcheon. Authorities also began cleanup and restoration efforts in earnest, including setting up prevention measures.

▽Restoration Efforts Underway

The Gyeongnam provincial government mobilized 25,000 relief workers and 1,000 heavy equipment gears to cleanup the devastated areas, burying dead animals and taking cautions against spread of epidemic diseases and collapse of buildings. “We expect the waters to recede from most parts of Hallim-myeon, Kimhae City by the 21st if it no longer rains,” said the local authorities. But it is expected to take a few more days for the village to fully reemerge given Imha Dam’s dumping of water on the 15th.

Shocked by the total devastation, frustrated residents started to hold rallies calling for compensations. Some 1,000 residents plan to attend a rally organized by Hallim-myeon Disaster Relief Committee on the 20th, while groups of residents in Haman also plan to protest against the collapse of the Backsan dike.

▽ Disaster Declaration

Residents and local authorities in the flood-stricken province are asking the government to declare the flooded villages ‘emergency areas,’ but the government is facing a legal hurdle. The disaster relief law limits the scope of an emergency area to the one hit by non-natural disasters such as fire, explosion or traffic accident.

Therefore, the stricken areas will be covered by the natural disaster relief law, the government explains. An emergency area was declared in July 1995 when Sampung Department Store collapsed and later in April 2000 when a wild fire swept Gosung, Gangwon-do.

The government now plans to mobilize funds, workforce and equipment by declaring the flooded villages ‘severely devastated disaster areas’ as the natural disaster relief law stipulates that the government provides full support to regions severely hit by a natural disaster.

“Fewer banks have been reinforced in Gyeongnam despite the Nakdong River’s confluence in the region,” said Kim Hyeok-gyu, governor of Gyoengnam-do in a press interview on August 19. “To prevent similar floods from taking place in the future, we urge the government to push for a bank repairing project which is estimated to cost at least 1.5 trillion won over the next 3 years.”

Jeong-Hoon Kang manman@donga.com