Interior ministry declares special disaster zones after heavy rain

The interior ministry said Friday it had designated Geoje and two areas of Tongyeong as special disaster zones to speed recovery after intense rainfall from Aug. 15 to 18 caused damage.

Rainfall in the storm set records since weather observations began: Geoje received 956.1 millimeters and Tongyeong 766.9 millimeters, while Geoje's peak hourly rainfall reached 124.5 millimeters.

The flooding caused casualties, inundated homes, schools and traditional markets, damaged roads and triggered landslides. The government said it made the early declaration before a central joint investigation because rapid damage response and recovery required preemptive government action.

Yoon Ho-jung, the interior minister and head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said the government would "thoroughly identify the causes of the damage" and establish a fundamental recovery plan to prevent a repeat.

A two-day preliminary survey beginning Aug. 18 found that all of Geoje, plus Sanyang-eup and Bongpyeong-dong in Tongyeong, met the criteria for declaration. Under the standard, a city, county or district qualifies when damage exceeds 2.5 times the national-funding threshold, while an eup, myeon or dong qualifies when damage exceeds one quarter of it.

The president approved the early declaration before detailed inspections by a central joint investigation team, after which the government expects additional designations.

The declaration permits the central government to cover part of local governments' reconstruction costs. Residents of the designated areas will receive disaster relief payments, which are the same regardless of a special-disaster declaration, as well as deferrals of national and local tax payments and reductions in public-utility charges. The government has already provided 3 billion won ($2.15 million) in special grants and 40 million won ($28,715) for emergency repairs and disaster relief for residents.