(Changwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Jeong-hoon = This summer, Gyeongnam is suffering from extreme weather conditions that are incomparable between 'extreme drought' and 'extreme heavy rain'.
Gyeongnam, which suffered severe drought damage until last week after a dry rainy season in June and July, suffered heavy rain for three days during the Liberation Day holiday, resulting in casualties and property damage.
Among the torrential rains of more than 800 mm that poured down over three days of the holiday, large and small damage occurred in Geoje City, where extreme rain of more than 500 mm fell between the night of the 16th and the early morning of the 17th.
At around 4:42 am on the 17th, a landslide occurred near an apartment in Okpo-dong, Geoje-si, striking the first floor of the apartment.
The police and fire rescue teams who responded rescued two residents and rescued one additional resident in cardiac arrest.
The resident was in cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital, but was pronounced dead.
Between the night of the 16th and the early morning of the 17th, as rivers overflowed and roads were submerged throughout Geoje-si, including Gohyeon-dong, Suwol-dong, Okpo-dong, Irun-myeon, and Dundeok-myeon, 119 calls requesting rescue from flooded or isolated houses and vehicles were flooded.
At around 5:05 a.m. on this day, a landslide that occurred on Gonrido Island in Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong-si hit a house, and the Tongyeong Coast Guard rescued one person.
For three days from the 15th, the Korea Meteorological Administration's Automatic Weather Observation System (AWS) measured heavy rain in all 18 cities and counties in Gyeongnam, including 813 mm in Geoje-si, 685 mm in Tongyeong-si, 281 mm in Namhae-gun, 175 mm in Changwon-si, 144 mm in Uiryeong-gun, 132 mm in Miryang-si, and 80 mm in Changnyeong-gun. It poured.
Geoje City and Tongyeong City recorded the highest one-hour rainfall in the early morning of the 17th since meteorological observations began in each of the two regions.
There is still very heavy rain of around 50 to 100 mm per hour in the two regions, and around 5 to 20 mm of rain per hour in the rest of Gyeongnam.
The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast that 80 to 150 mm of rain will fall on the southern coast of Gyeongnam, 50 to 100 mm of rain in the eastern inland of Gyeongnam, and 20 to 60 mm of rain in the central and western inland of Gyeongnam by today.
Until last week, Gyeongnam had the worst drought in the country.
On the 14th before the Liberation Day holiday, the water storage rate was 32.2%, only 41.4% of the average.
All 18 cities and counties in Gyeongnam were affected by drought, with 5 cities and counties, including Miryang City, entering the 'severe' (extreme drought) stage of agricultural water drought.
As of the 14th, Gyeongsangnam-do Province was found to have suffered drought damage such as death, leaf scorch, and defoliation (fruit splitting and bursting) on 2,834 hectares of agricultural land, mainly on rice, fruit trees such as sweet persimmons, pears, and apples, and field crops such as beans, sesame seeds, and peppers.
However, most cities and counties in Gyeongnam escaped from extreme drought due to extreme heavy rain during the Liberation Day holiday.
As of the 17th, the drought remained at the serious level with only one city, Milyang-si, five places including Gimhae-si, Uiryeong-gun, Changnyeong-gun, Sancheong-gun, and Hapcheon-gun, three places including Haman-gun, Hadong-gun, and Geochang-gun under caution, and three places including Jinju-si, Yangsan-si, and Hamyang-gun improved to a concern level.
Six cities and counties in the southern coastal area where heavy rain was concentrated, including Changwon-si, Geoje-si, Tongyeong-si, Sacheon-si, Goseong-gun, and Namhae-gun, escaped the drought.
As water continues to flow into the reservoir from valleys and rivers, the water retention rate continues to rise.
As of the 14th, Geoje City's water storage rate was 28.7%, which was only 36.5% of the average year, but as more than 800 mm of rain fell between the 15th and 17th, the water storage rate soared to 73.6% and 94.1% compared to the average year (78.2%).
