Damage Exceeds 220 Billion Won, Schools Close, Three People Die


By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter



Buses are immobile under heavy snow at the Kwangchon Bus Terminal in Kwangju, Thursday. Up to 50 centimeters of snow fell in Kwangju and South Cholla Province, causing major traffic disruption and property damage. / Yonhap


A record-breaking snowfall has wreaked havoc on Kwangju and North and South Cholla Provinces, closing schools, destroying farm facilities and blocking land, air and sea traffic.
Total financial damage in the regions was estimated at around 200 billion won, but this figure is expected to greatly increase.

About 14,000 civilians and soldiers were mobilized Thursday to repair roads, farms and homes damaged by the heavy snowfall.

More than 1,190 elementary, middle and high schools were temporarily shut down, and a dozen schools started winter vacation earlier than scheduled in the snowstorm-hit regions.

Schools in the region have already closed temporarily a couple of times this month.

A 68-year-old man in Changsong, South Cholla Province, and a 40-year-old man in Kwangju were found dead from the cold near their homes, and a public servant in his 40s who was helping with recovery work was crushed to death under a greenhouse in Puan, North Cholla Province.

Parts of the regions received almost 50 centimeters of snow from Wednesday until Thursday morning.

Chongup in North Cholla Province had 45.6 centimeters of snow overnight, but more than 1 meter of snow has piled up due to continual snowfall since Dec. 3.

Naju received 51 centimeters of snow, Puan 39 centimeters and Kwangju 35.2 centimeters. The snowfall in Chongup and Kwangju was the heaviest since the weather agency started observations in 1939.

North and South Cholla Provinces and Cheju will have up to 10 centimeters of additional snow until Friday night, with a heavy snow warning issued in some parts of the region.

Some 210 residents in the mountainous area of the region took shelter at a town hall, as their houses were on the verge of collapse due to the weight of snow.

Eighty-six buildings in Kwangju collapsed, including a medical device factory. About 100 greenhouses and farming facilities were also destroyed in Kwangju and North and South Cholla Provinces.

Honam Expressway connecting South Chungchong Province and South Cholla Province was shut down Wednesday night, and some 1,000 cars on the road were snowbound for eight hours. The roads were reopened Thursday morning.

Flights from and to Kwangju and Mokpo were all cancelled for two consecutive days, while those from and to Cheju Island and Yosu resumed operation Thursday afternoon.

The snowfall also affected production lines.

Samsung Electronics’ electric home appliances factories in Kwangju suspended operation Thursday, with 10 billion won in financial losses estimated.

Kia Motors’ car factories kept operating, but the company could not load 150 cars onto ships for export because the road from the factories to Mokpo harbor was blocked by snow.

``We cannot grasp the exact extent of the damage, as the damaged area is too wide and we have not started full-scale recovery works yet due to continuing snowfalls,’’ an official of Kwangju city government said.

The government plans to assess the total financial damage by Dec. 31, and will decide whether to declare the regions a natural disaster zone.

During an inspection of the areas on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan promised to provide financial aid to assist in the rehabilitation work in the nation’s main grain basket.

The mercury level dropped to below minus 10 degrees Celsius in most of the country Thursday, and Seoul recorded minus 11.1 degrees.

The temperatures will keep rising from Friday through the weekend, with midday highs rising above zero.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr