Tongyeong evacuation alert comes too late
City officials sent a landslide evacuation text nearly two hours after a woman was buried and rescued during intense rainfall.
Rescue workers rescue a woman after a landslide buried her on Gonri Island in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang, on Aug. 17.
TONGYEONG COAST GUARD
Tongyeong officials did not tell residents to evacuate until nearly two hours after a landslide buried a woman on Monday. By then, rescuers had already pulled her from the debris.
The landslide struck Gonri Island in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang, at about 5:03 a.m. Monday, police and other sources said Wednesday. Rain was falling at 74.9 millimeters (2.9 inches) per hour at the time.
A woman in her 60s was buried in the slide. Rescuers freed her about 90 minutes later and took her to a hospital.
The city sent its landslide evacuation text at 7 a.m., nearly two hours after the slide and after the woman had been rescued.
“A landslide advisory has been issued,” the message read. “Residents of landslide-prone areas should immediately move to designated shelters. Do not enter forests, valleys or steep slopes.”
The Korea Forest Service provides local governments every hour with landslide prediction information based on rainfall data and soil saturation. Local governments then decide whether to issue advisories or warnings and evacuation orders after considering the forecasts and local weather conditions.
Tongyeong acknowledged the delayed message but said officials had not expected such intense rain before dawn.
“We did not expect it to rain that heavily before dawn at all,” a Tongyeong official said. “It was very difficult for us to make the call.”
The same storm killed one person and injured four along the southern coast. In Okpo-dong, Geoje, South Gyeongsang, landslide debris hit the lower floors of an apartment building at about 4:42 a.m. Monday. One resident was killed and two others were injured.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
