Don’t forget the tragic deaths in the underpass

Public safety authorities and local governments must take extra care against ever-increasing risks from extreme weather.

The summer monsoon season arrived with heavy rainfalls and winds in Jeju Island. The residents in the southernmost resort island of the country were warned of possible accidents due to heavy rainfalls. The monsoon will soon hit the mainland starting with the southern region. Weather authorities forecast an exceptionally hot and wet summer this year. Local governments must pre-emptively examine any locations chronically vulnerable to flooding. The country must be thoroughly prepared for torrential rainstorms that can kill people and cause devastating damages on properties.

Summer flooding cost immense casualties in recent years. The heavy rainfall in North Chungcheong last July killed 14 people stuck in the Osong underpass. In July 2020, the flooding of another underpass in Busan caused three deaths. In September 2022, eight people died because of instant flooding in the underground parking lot of an apartment building in Pohang, North Gyeongsang. The country’s largest steelmaker, Posco, had to shut down three furnaces in its main manufacturing complex in the city due to heavy flooding in nearby streams and logged a loss of 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion).

Still, many underpasses across the country remain susceptible to flooding. According to recent findings by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), 182 underpasses are at the risk of inundation from extreme rainfalls. Of them, 87 percent, or 159 locations, lack safety guidelines to close down when nearby streams reach a certain water level.

As many as 132 underpasses, or 73 percent, are not even equipped with systems for traffic control in the case of an emergency. Local governments have asked the central government for support to install equipment needed to stop vehicles from entering 40 underpasses. However, only 23 could receive assistance from the central government. The Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, both in charge of public safety issues, promised that they took actions after the BAI’s recommendations. But the general public cannot be assured of their safety.

The Korean Peninsula cannot be an exception to the global extreme weather conditions from climate change. We must address the danger of exceptionally heavy rainfalls as a constant feature of the monsoon season in Korea. The damages from natural disasters can be minimized if the central and local governments adequately prepare with the public. Without sufficient readiness to brace for abnormal weather patterns from climate change, the losses will certainly be regarded as being man-made. Public safety authorities and local governments must take extra care against ever-increasing risks from extreme weather.