Measures drawn up to deal with natural disasters

Rainfall will be measured hourly through water level gauges at river basins all across the country to increase flood control measures, amid the erratic weather patterns, according to the state’s weather agency Tuesday.

The Korea Meteorological Administration is increasing efforts to give citizens and water control facilities a head start to prevent flooding through dam and reservoir maintenance, among other measures.

The KMA plans to implement rain gauges at 26 basins throughout Korea measuring precipitation, in a trial run that will start at the end of August.

“The neighborhood forecast in place is based on measuring rainfall at exact points, but through measuring whole areas, it will hopefully help prevent floods,” said a KMA official.

Plans like these are part of an increasing effort to prepare the nation for sporadic natural events, as weather becomes increasingly unpredictable.

In July alone, Seoul saw some 1,130 millimeters of rain, the second highest rainfall for July since 1904, when precipitation levels were first measured. In July, 1940, Seoul received some 1,364 millimeters of rain.

July’s rainfall was also nearly three times that of the 30-year average rainfall for the month of July.

The total amount of precipitation for July 27 was the third highest the city has ever seen.

But the records are not only being broken during the summer.

On Jan. 4, 2010, Seoul saw the most recorded snowfall since 1937 with 25.8 centimeters, while on Jan. 16, 2011 the mercury fell to its lowest at minus 15.8 degrees Celsius.

“The Korean Peninsula originally had moderate weather, but now is a combination of tropical, moderate and cold climates,” said Ho Chang-hoi, professor at the Climate Physics Laboratory at Seoul National University.

“The climate has become unpredictable with heat waves one year and snow storms another,” said Ho.

As the restoration crews start to wrap up work in hard hit areas, the Grand National Party is looking into measures to increase the infrastructure’s ability to handle hourly precipitation.

“We need to increase the amount of rainfall that the sewage and drainage systems can handle from 30 millimeters an hour to between 70 and 100 millimeters, to deal with severe rainfall following climate change,” said ruling party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo.

Lee added that measures are needed in the event of a landslide and that the disaster prevention systems need reexamining as well.

“Apartments and houses being built near areas of high risk for landslides need to be evaluated for possible long term disaster effects,” said GNP Rep. Lim Dong-kyu, head of the party’s flood measure taskforce.

“We are also looking into measures where the central or local governments need to purchase private land in danger of causing landslides and build waterways and other drainage facilities,” said Lim.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)