The South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has blamed the authorities as the death toll in the country from torrential rain rose to 39, including a dozen people who were found dead in a submerged underpass. The President on Monday blamed the authorities’ failure to follow disaster response rules.
The country’s central and southern regions have been beaten by the heavy rainfall since Thursday as the monsoon season reached its peak. Nine people have been reported missing and 34 have been injured across South Korea, as per the interior ministry.
Botched response to South Korea floods
Questions have been raised over South Korea’s efforts to prevent and respond to flood damage. A tunnel in the city of Cheongju has seen twelve deaths, where 16 vehicles, including a bus, were faced with a flash flood on Saturday as a river levee failed. Nine other people were reported to be hurt. Some drivers who use the road regularly blamed the government for failing to ban access to the underpass even though floods were widely forecast.
Floods have claimed dozens of lives during recent rainy seasons as weather patterns have become more extreme. The government last year vowed to take steps to better cope with climate change-induced disasters after the heaviest downpours in 115 years pounded Seoul, including the glitzy district of Gangnam, leaving at least 14 dead and flooding subways, roads and homes.
Yoon, just back from an overseas trip, on Monday convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and said the situation was made worse because of poor management of vulnerable areas.
“We’ve repeatedly emphasised access control over dangerous areas and preemptive evacuation since last year, but if basic principles of disaster response are not kept on the spot, it is difficult to ensure public safety,” Yoon told the meeting.
He called for authorities to make the utmost effort to rescue victims and vowed support for recovery work and affected families, including designating flood-hit areas as special disaster zones.
(With Agency Inputs)