[Anchor]
When heavy rain falls, underground spaces become the most dangerous places. Once water rises to an adult's knee level, escape becomes virtually impossible. You must evacuate immediately as soon as you see even the slightest sign of flooding.
Reporter Dong Eunyeong covers the safety guidelines.
[Reporter]
Four years ago, when Typhoon Hinnamnor struck, a river overflowed and submerged an apartment underground parking lot in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, claiming seven lives.
They were residents who had gone to move their cars after hearing news of the flooding.
In the summer of that same year, in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, two sisters in their 40s and a teenage daughter were unable to escape their semi-basement home and perished.
Over the past 10 years, approximately 20% of deaths and disappearances caused by storm and flood damage have occurred due to the flooding of underground spaces.
[Gong Ha-sung / Professor of Fire and Disaster Prevention, Woosuk University: You need to evacuate through the path where water is entering, but that is exactly where the water is rushing in with great force.]
Our reporting team experienced a simulated flooding situation.
The water is about 50cm deep, reaching my knees.
No matter how hard I push, the door will not open.
Even when an adult male pushes, the door only budges slightly but does not open.
[Kim Hak-soo / Team Leader of the Urban Flood Experiment Team, National Disaster Management Research Institute: Even if the water is only 50cm deep, it has an effect similar to having a 110kg boulder blocking the door from the outside. The door becomes that heavy, making it impossible to open.]
This means that once water reaches the height of an adult's knees, it becomes impossible to open a closed door to escape; therefore, you must evacuate immediately at the first sign of rising water.
When climbing stairs where muddy water is pouring in, you must hold onto the handrails firmly with both hands.
It is better to be barefoot than to wear rain boots, which make it difficult to lift your feet as water continues to flow in, or dress shoes, which can be slippery.
[Choi Yeon-woo / Operations Team Leader, Boramae Safety Experience Center: Since you usually cannot see the stairs due to the sediment, lifting your feet too much in that situation can cause you to fall backward due to water pressure, so you should walk almost as if sliding your feet along the floor...]
In underground parking lots and underpasses, it is best to abandon your vehicle once water begins to rise.
Even if the water only reaches half the height of the tires, there is a risk of being trapped inside the vehicle due to water pressure.
If you are late to evacuate and become trapped inside a vehicle, you should open or break the windows, and in the case of an SUV, open the trunk to secure an escape route.
Reported by Kim Seung-tae | Video by Kim Jong-tae | Graphics by Jang Chae-woo
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