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South Korea flood death toll rises to 39, President Yoon blames botched responses


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Turbocharged
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Look like scene from Tunnel (Korean movie). Make me wonder how safe is our MRT tunnel, CTE, KPE, MCE and such. Are we well prepared for the worst case scenario, even if the chance of occurrence is 1 in 100 or even 1000 years?

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/south-korea-floods-yoon-suk-yeol-failure-disaster-response-rules-death-toll-missing-3633441

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SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday (Jul 17) blamed authorities' failure to follow disaster response rules as the death toll from days of torrential rain grew to 39, including a dozen people found dead in a submerged underpass.

The rains have pummelled the country's central and southern regions since Thursday as the rainy season that started in late June reaches its peak. The interior ministry has also reported nine people missing and 34 injured across the nation.

Twelve deaths, including three bodies retrieved overnight, occurred in a tunnel in the central city of Cheongju, where 16 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood on Saturday after a river levee collapsed. Nine others were hurt.

The incident fuelled questions over South Korea's efforts to prevent and respond to flood damage. Some drivers who use the road regularly blamed the government for failing to ban access to the underpass even though floods were widely forecast.

According to Yonhap, South Korean police said they would launch an investigation into the fatal flooding of the underpass in Cheongju.

Floods have claimed dozens of lives during recent rainy seasons as weather patterns have become more extreme.

Yoon, just back from an overseas trip, on Monday convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and said the situation was made worse because of poor management of vulnerable areas.

Ahead of a visit to flood-hit North Gyeongsang province on Monday, Yoon said: "This kind of extreme weather event will become commonplace - we must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it."

The idea that extreme weather linked to climate change "is an anomaly and can't be helped needs to be completely overhauled", he said, calling for "extraordinary determination" to improve the country's preparedness and response.

South Korea will "mobilise all available resources" including the military and police to help with rescue efforts, he said.

 

Edited by SGMCF328
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(edited)

That's the problem!

Electric bus and water don't mix.

Time for a nice holiday for MIL.

I will get her one of those unlimited bus ride tickets.

:D 

image.thumb.png.e2dc3d194b410157abb0400f4adec3ee.png

 

Edited by Jamesc
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Turbocharged

No early warning signs or evacuation routes? Korea, didn't expect standard can be that low. If happen is some rural areas can understand. 

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Looking at the ohoto of the tunnel ( or how it was constructed …… the tunnel is going downwards and must have become a pool and sudden downpour might have just been overwhelming or river water inside …… don’t we all feel relief when going into a tunnel on a heavy downpour ……. Not knowing that it can  also be a trap if the pumps malfunction or can’t cope with deluge or gradient is off …… Expensive lesson to learn …… I’m sure our engineers in LTA will take cognizance in the MCE tunnel too as it’s near the sea / barrage too 

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Hypersonic
On 7/17/2023 at 8:26 PM, BanCoe said:

Looking at the ohoto of the tunnel ( or how it was constructed …… the tunnel is going downwards and must have become a pool and sudden downpour might have just been overwhelming or river water inside …… don’t we all feel relief when going into a tunnel on a heavy downpour ……. Not knowing that it can  also be a trap if the pumps malfunction or can’t cope with deluge or gradient is off …… Expensive lesson to learn …… I’m sure our engineers in LTA will take cognizance in the MCE tunnel too as it’s near the sea / barrage too 

Our MRT tunnel, CTE, KPE, MCE also not safe if pumps become malfunctioning or cannot cope with the sudden surge of water. This is why it happened previously that our MRT tunnel got flooded when the pumps failed.

I always find tunnel and basement not safe during heavy downpour. You see basement carpark become swimming pool has happened here before. This is the reason why i don't like basement carpark. Still prefer multi-storey carpark. 

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On 7/18/2023 at 11:55 AM, 13177 said:

Our MRT tunnel, CTE, KPE, MCE also not safe if pumps become malfunctioning or cannot cope with the sudden surge of water. This is why it happened previously that our MRT tunnel got flooded when the pumps failed.

I always find tunnel and basement not safe during heavy downpour. You see basement carpark become swimming pool has happened here before. This is the reason why i don't like basement carpark. Still prefer multi-storey carpark. 

You overthink again

😂

Flooding in basement carpark only happens in HIGH SES building

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The usual "happen once in 50years" mentality doesnt just exist in Sgp.

For some flooding dont even occur throughout their maintenance career. It is of least priority for sure. But all it takes is that one fateful day when the weather became crazy. Maintenance ppl are caught with their pants down. Our mrt experienced that in 2017 at Bishan mrt. The whole maintenance team got fired. However the minister who famously said "once in 50 years" somehow got away, LoL.

I dunno how many tunnels S.Korea has but they must have a lot. Keeping tunnels clean of debris is one thing, keeping emergency pumps working is another. Apparently the mentality of the maintenance crew is also a factor. Many factors come into play. Predicting weather is impossible. I hope they had learned from their mistakes like we did.

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Hypersonic
On 7/18/2023 at 12:32 PM, Watwheels said:

The usual "happen once in 50years" mentality doesnt just exist in Sgp.

For some flooding dont even occur throughout their maintenance career. It is of least priority for sure. But all it takes is that one fateful day when the weather became crazy. Maintenance ppl are caught with their pants down. Our mrt experienced that in 2017 at Bishan mrt. The whole maintenance team got fired. However the minister who famously said "once in 50 years" somehow got away, LoL.

I dunno how many tunnels S.Korea has but they must have a lot. Keeping tunnels clean of debris is one thing, keeping emergency pumps working is another. Apparently the mentality of the maintenance crew is also a factor. Many factors come into play. Predicting weather is impossible. I hope they had learned from their mistakes like we did.

Our tunnel like KPE no need to wait for weather become crazy also can become submerged since the tunnel is built under the sea. If anything inside the tunnel goes wrong. 😅

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On 7/18/2023 at 11:55 AM, 13177 said:

Our MRT tunnel, CTE, KPE, MCE also not safe if pumps become malfunctioning or cannot cope with the sudden surge of water. This is why it happened previously that our MRT tunnel got flooded when the pumps failed.

I always find tunnel and basement not safe during heavy downpour. You see basement carpark become swimming pool has happened here before. This is the reason why i don't like basement carpark. Still prefer multi-storey carpark. 

OK trying to reason out ......... OK for now I now know why mortuary is usually in the basement except Blk 9 SGH .....only 1 person here might have the answer/s  :grin: 

 

Aiyah our SG weather is a piece of cake lah compared to the ones in China/ India oh well this time it hit Korea; Ours even if it floods most of the water should go into the seas as we are small island ...... their countries dams are all jostling/ swelling / bursting  to manage the water and takes a while and just builds up into a tsunami like force even wiping bridges and buildings       

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On 7/18/2023 at 1:17 PM, 13177 said:

Our tunnel like KPE no need to wait for weather become crazy also can become submerged since the tunnel is built under the sea. If anything inside the tunnel goes wrong. 😅

KPE entrance/exit on the side of Tampines Road is downward sloping towards the tunnel.

During heavy downpour, got flooding?

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(edited)

I remember attended one structural engineering classes on building a tunnel. That era was before any road tunnel in SG. 

The lecturer ask," Does anyone able to explain why our MRT tunnel don't get flooded during rain? 

Imagine you hold a long rubber pipe, submerge the middle part in the long bath filled with water. 

Is the inside of the rubber pipe flooded with water? Will the water enter if both openings of the pipe are above the water level? 

 

As long all tunnel entry and exit point are above sea level then chances of flooding will be low....

Unless... pumps not working.....

Or have Tsunami.😓

Edited by Atonchia
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On 7/18/2023 at 1:22 PM, BanCoe said:

OK trying to reason out ......... OK for now I now know why mortuary is usually in the basement except Blk 9 SGH .....only 1 person here might have the answer/s  :grin: 

 

Aiyah our SG weather is a piece of cake lah compared to the ones in China/ India oh well this time it hit Korea; Ours even if it floods most of the water should go into the seas as we are small island ...... their countries dams are all jostling/ swelling / bursting  to manage the water and takes a while and just builds up into a tsunami like force even wiping bridges and buildings       

 

Lucky Sg don't have mountains....

 

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Turbocharged

Is this God made natural disaster or human error/ mistake? Koreans should look into it seriously. 

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