Local family lodges criminal accusation against South Chungcheong government for their kin's demise during heavy rainfall incident
In the heart of South Chungcheong, South Korea, the picturesque town of Seosan was hit by a devastating flood on July 17, as reported by YONHAP. The flood was triggered by an overflow of the Cheongji Stream, a vital waterway that runs through the region.
The origins of this disaster can be traced back to an abandoned river restoration project that started in 2013. The project aimed to widen a 9-kilometer stretch of the Cheongji Stream, but it was only partially completed, with just 3.34 km of the work carried out before it was halted in 2017. The flooding occurred in the unfinished 5.71-kilometer section of the project, which had left the stream's capacity to handle extreme rainfall compromised [2].
The area around the Cheongji Stream has been identified as high risk in hazard maps by the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The extreme rainfall – over 519mm in about 15 hours, a 200-year statistical event – exacerbated the flooding [1][2]. The narrow and structurally constrained Cheongji Stream area, left incomplete due to the halted project, struggled to cope with the torrential downpour, resulting in backflow and overflow.
The aftermath of this disaster was far-reaching. The flooding caused fatalities near Namwon Bridge and affected roads and farmland in Seosan [2]. The incident has raised serious concerns about emergency response and accountability. The victim’s family has filed a criminal complaint against local authorities, alleging delayed rescue operations and poor disaster management coordination. Simultaneously, the South Chungcheong provincial government is auditing the response adequacy [2].
In light of this event, the JoongAng Ilbo report suggests that authorities should be held accountable for the incident. However, as of now, no specific authorities have been held accountable [2].
This unfortunate incident underscores the critical importance of completing river restoration projects and the need for effective disaster management strategies. The abandoned Cheongji Stream project has been a significant contributing factor to the flood disaster in Seosan, leading to both human tragedy and institutional scrutiny of flood management and emergency response in the region.
References:
[1] YONHAP News Agency. (2022, July 17). Seosan flood: Cheongji Stream overflow causes flooding in South Chungcheong. Retrieved from https://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2022/07/17/a100200001/seosan-flood-cheongji-stream-overflow-causes-flooding-in-south-chungcheong
[2] JoongAng Ilbo. (2022, July 19). Seosan flood: Abandoned river restoration project worsened flooding impacts. Retrieved from https://joongang.joins.com/article/3150676.html (This report was translated using generative AI and edited by the website staff.)
- The flooding in Seosan, South Korea, on July 17, as reported by YONHAP, was a consequence of the abandoned Cheongji Stream river restoration project initiated in 2013, which left an unfinished section vulnerable to extreme rainfall.
- The South Chungcheong provincial government, along with local authorities, are now facing scrutiny and accountability issues, with the victim’s family filing a criminal complaint alleging delayed rescue operations and poor disaster management coordination following the Seosan flood incident.
- As the JoongAng Ilbo suggests, completing river restoration projects and establishing effective disaster management strategies are crucial to preventing tragedies like the one in Seosan, where the neglect of the Cheongji Stream project significantly worsened the flooding impacts.
