Those Who Visited Hometown in Flood-stricken Areas Still Worry

“Do I have to bring her to my home in Seoul?"

Han Deok Hoon of Sadang-4dong, Seoul, 38, felt heavy in the chest on the way back to Seoul after visiting his hometown in Ibam-dong, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do.

This was the second time he visited there after Typhoon Rusa hit the region. Now the flood had subsided and the house was getting dry. After the heavy rain brought by the typhoon flooded her house, Hur Soon Ja, his mother, stayed from her relative` house to another for a short time. He wallpapered again the main bed room of her once-immersed house which is still wet and smells bad.

Mr. Han asked her to leave the house, in which she had lived for about 40 years since she got married and move. But she refused the offer. He said, "I am worrying that she would be okay while she stays alone at this home, of which many household goods had been swept away by the flood.

Most of the people who came back to Seoul after spending the last day of the Chusok holidays at hometown looked upbeat. But some, including Mr. Han, looked depressed.

Chung Ha Gwang of Juan-dong, Incheon, 39, is not the exception. He felt miserable on his way back after he spent the Chusok holidays in a container with his parents in their 70s.

On the news that his house in the hometown collapsed, August 31, he hurried to the house and joined the restoration operation for four days. And he went there again on Sept. 17 for Chusok holidays.

His parents should drink underground water because tap water was not supplied to the container. This is only half of the story. There was even lack of temporary toilets. So he bought one to give his parents.

He blamed himself for the fact that he could not afford to live with his parents. Now he is living alone, working at a factory near Incheon.

Park Sang Soo of Ilsan-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 37, stayed with his single mother in a container in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do. After the five-day stay, he could not leave the hometown because of the worry over her, so he was with her for one more day.

He is still concerned about her health in his Ilsan house as it is getting cold, particularly in the early morning.

Dong-Yong Min Jin-Kyun Kil mindy@donga.com leon@donga.com