By Heejung Jung and Soo-hyang Choi
SEOUL – The heaviest rain in Seoul in 115 years has spurred the South Korean capital to revive a $1.15 billion plan to enhance drainage after floods uncovered how even the prosperous Gangnam district is weak to local weather change-driven excessive climate.
Consultants say the town’s capability to empty water is much behind what’s wanted to deal with a deluge just like the one suffered this week. That has disasterous implications for low-lying areas like Gangnam, as these bouts of utmost climate have gotten more and more frequent.
This week’s torrential rain killed not less than 11 folks throughout the northern a part of the nation, as of Thursday morning. The downpour, which started on Monday and shifted southwards on Wednesday, knocked out energy, precipitated landslides and flooded roads and subways.
Financial estimates of the injury had been nonetheless being compiled.
Within the wake of the downpour, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon introduced on Wednesday the town will spend 1.5 trillion gained ($1.15 billion) within the subsequent decade to construct six huge underground tunnels to retailer and launch rainwater to forestall flooding.
“The injury from this document rainfall reveals that there are limits with short-term water management measures when uncommon climate situations on account of world warming have turn into frequent,” Mayor Oh mentioned, vowing to determine a city-wide system able to dealing with 100 mm (3.94 inches) rainfall an hour from the present 95 mm.
Town’s improvement meant elevated pavement and impermeable surfaces, resulting in greater runoff and extra flooding. Greater than 50% of Seoul’s land areas are impermeable, with the determine a lot greater within the prosperous Gangnam district with vast boulevards and workplace buildings, specialists mentioned.
“It’s all the time a see-saw recreation between price and security,” mentioned Moon Younger-il, a professor of civil engineering at College of Seoul. “We have to discover a stability level and 100 mm appears affordable sufficient.”
Seoul had lacked any detailed plan for water management because it grew from a metropolis of two to three million folks within the Nineteen Sixties to at least one with over 10 million by the Nineteen Nineties, Moon mentioned.
The underground tunnels had been initially proposed in 2011 after heavy rains and landslides killed 16 folks, a lot of them in Gangnam. However the plan was placed on maintain amid decreased precipitation and funds points within the following years.
The Seoul metropolis additionally plans to ban basement or decrease floor residences after three members of the family together with a lady with developmental disabilities drowned of their house on Monday.
The calamitous moist climate prompted President Yoon Suk-yeol to carry a collection of conferences with officers this week, to search out basic methods to enhance South Korea’s preparedness towards comparable local weather change-induced disasters.
Hotter climate will increase moisture ranges within the air, resulting in extra intense rainfall. So whereas there was little change within the annual precipitation over the previous 4 many years, the frequency of heavy rains in Seoul has elevated by 27% for the reason that 2000s, based on a 2021 report by the Seoul Institute.
“It was certainly an excessive climate. However we will not name this type of climate occasion uncommon,” President Yoon informed a gathering on Wednesday. “The biggest, highest document might be damaged at any time.”
($1 = 1,302.2400 gained)
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