[Anchor]
We continue with news on the damage caused by heavy rains. This monsoon season has concentrated on the Chungcheong region, leading to a series of incidents including collapsed roads and flooded homes. Although the rain has stopped, residents are still struggling to even begin the recovery process.
Reporter Hong Seung-yeon reports from the scene.
[Reporter]
This is a landscaping tree farm in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, where 120mm of rain fell throughout yesterday (July 9).
A 10-meter-high retaining wall collapsed, leaving behind a precarious cliff.
About 200 potted trees were standing on the part of the farm that gave way, but now they are all buried under piles of dirt.
The owner, who has spent six years working day and night to cultivate these trees, is devastated.
Recovery work is not even a possibility at this stage.
[Kim Dae-ho / Farm Operator: The trees are secondary; the problem is the recovery. It has reached a point where a private individual cannot even dare to attempt to fix it.]
A road leading to another nearby village also collapsed due to the downpour.
While dirt has been piled up where the road was cut off, proper restoration work has not yet begun.
In a field in Cheongju, where over 200mm of rain fell during this monsoon season, farmers are busy replanting sesame seeds.
This is because their crops, which they had carefully nurtured, all died after the field was completely submerged by the heavy rain.
[Kim Jin-bun / Farmer affected by the heavy rain: It poured down and turned into a sea of water. The sesame plants were all submerged and died, so I am planting seeds I got from someone else.]
The situation is the same for other farms.
A seedling nursery has turned into a mud pit, and the tomatoes and peppers inside the vinyl greenhouses are covered in muddy water.
Inside homes where rainwater flooded in, traces of the inundation remain.
Although the water has barely been drained, it is overwhelming to clear out all the belongings that were submerged in mud.
[Shin Ho-seop / Gangnae-myeon, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province: The water rose about 1 meter from the floor, so we had to throw away all the household goods that were on the ground.]
There have been approximately 500 reports of damage in the Chungcheong region alone due to this rain.
Although the rain has stopped, it is expected to take a significant amount of time before full recovery is achieved.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has decided to provide 2.1 billion won in emergency special grant tax to six cities and provinces, including Daejeon, Sejong, and North and South Chungcheong Provinces.
(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)
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