Landslide deaths show blind spots in prevention system

Out of 12 landslide deaths in the region, 10 occurred away from areas previously designated as vulnerable

Residents of Beolbang-ri in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, walk through the landslide-stricken village on Sunday. (Yonhap)

Landslide casualties and damages in North Gyeongsang Province due to heavy rainfall over the past few days show the need for new preventive measures, as most of the disasters took place in areas where landslides have not occurred before.

As of noon on Sunday, Yecheon, Yeongju, Bonghwa and Mungyeong in North Gyeongsang Province reported 18 dead and nine missing due to flooding and landslides. Of the fatalities, twelve were killed in landslides.

Only two of them were killed in an area previously designated as “vulnerable to landslides.” The other 10 were killed in places that were not categorized as such.

After a major landslide in Umyeonsan in southern Seoul in 2011, local administrations and forestry authorities have been required to designate areas with high risk of landslides and closely monitor them under the law on forest protection.

But the unexpected casualties and damages at several remote villages show that at times of heavy rainfall, there is no safe zone.

On Thursday, Yecheon, Yeongju, Bonghwa and Mungyeong reported an average rainfall of 25 millimeters. The average amount of rain in these regions increased by over five-fold to 129 millimeters on Friday, and 130 millimeters on Saturday, when people were found dead or missing.

The provincial government of North Gyeongsang informed its counties and municipalities to check on areas of high landslide risk from Thursday. Some 3,000 residents were evacuated and roads were blocked.

Yecheon County “advised” residents of certain villages via mobile phone messages to evacuate to local community halls after heavy rain warnings were issued.

The provincial government issued "evacuation orders" at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Residents of villages including Punggi-eup in Yeongju say they have received over 70 text messages from the county office and the Ministry of Interior and Safety over the past few days, but they didn’t anticipate a landslide as they had never experienced one before near their village.

Some residents told local media that they don’t even look at all the disaster alerts because they received so many.

By Kim So-hyun(sophie@heraldcorp.com)