Sandbags are piled up in southern Seoul as Typhoon Hinnamnor approaches the Korean Peninsula on Sept. 5, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Concerns were growing among residents of some southern districts in Seoul on Monday as approaching Typhoon Hinnamnor threatened further damage for the areas already devastated by a historic rainfall about a month ago.
The super typhoon was moving northward to the Korean Peninsula, bringing rain and wind to much of the country.
The year’s 11th typhoon is forecast to edge closest to the southern island of Jeju around 1 a.m. Tuesday before making landfall on the mainland’s southern coasts near Busan around 7 a.m.
“I couldn’t sleep well last night due to the news rain may fall again,” said a 49-year-old man who lives in a semi-underground apartment in the Gwanak district in southern Seoul.
“We have already experienced the worst during last month’s flooding. If my home is submerged again, there may be nothing I can do but flee,” he added.
Gwanak was one of the areas worst hit by the record-breaking deluge from Aug. 8-10, which caused massive floods across the country and left 14 people dead and six others missing.
Three family members drowned while trapped in their subterranean dwelling in Sillim-dong, Gwanak, at that time.
Residents in the district have been working since the early morning to prevent possible damage from the typhoon, which meteorological officials said will be the most powerful storm ever to hit the country.
“As soon as I wake up in the morning, I have to check whether the basement is flooded,” said an 82-year-old landlord, surnamed Lee, living in Sillim-dong.
All tenants left Lee’s semi-basement units after they were inundated last month.
“There is no water barrier at the gate, so if it rains heavily, my home may be flooded again. So I’m going to put sandbags at the entrance with the help of my neighbors,” Lee said.
Storm drain inlets on a road in southern Seoul are free of debris as Typhoon Hinnamnor approaches the Korean Peninsula on Sept. 5, 2022. (Yonhap)
The nearby district of Seocho was also struggling to cope with the approaching typhoon.
In a shopping center in front of the Jinheung apartment complex, which was flooded last month, electricity was still cut off and drainage pumps were in place.
“This is an emergency, and all merchants are going to go home early,” said Choi Jeong-in, who runs a clothing repair service there.
“I am at a loss. How does a typhoon come again so soon after the water was drained from the basement?” he said.
District offices are on high alert, operating emergency response systems and supplying more sandbags and other water barriers to homes and buildings.
“If it rains a lot, we will update residents swiftly and have them evacuate to community centers,” said an official at the government office of Gwanak Ward.
The Seocho district office also said it delivered additional flood barriers, examined manhole covers and storm drain inlets on streets, and stepped up patrols of vulnerable areas.
(Yonhap)
