▲ A farmer looks at grapes damaged by recent torrential rains at a grape farm in Dundeok-myeon, Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, on the 20th. (Photo: Yonhap News)
"If a human cannot breathe for 24 hours, they die. Our grapevines must be dead too."
Lee, 79, sighed as he looked at mud-covered grapevines at a grape farm in Hadun-ri, Dundeok-myeon, Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, on the morning of the 20th.
Dundeok-myeon is an area well-known for grape cultivation in Geoje.
Torrential rains that poured during the Liberation Day holiday left Lee's vineyard submerged in water for over 24 hours.
Even today, the fourth day since the flood damage occurred, traces of overflowing water from the nearby Dundeokcheon Stream remained clearly visible on the untouched vineyard.
The floor of the vinyl greenhouse was still muddy and slushy, and the leaves of the grapevines had dried into a grayish color without even being cleared of dirt.
Mud was splattered thickly on the plump clusters of grapes that had ripened nicely ahead of the harvest.
Pointing to the muddy water marks left on the leaves and stems of the grapevines, Lee explained that the water had surged up as high as 180 centimeters.
"With the water staying submerged for over 24 hours, none of the fruit can be used," he said. "Even if we try to save them, grapes submerged in water cannot be put out as commercial products and must be thrown away entirely."
He went on to vent, "Crop conditions for grapes were unusually good this year with no pests. We expected to ship about 13 tons, but things turned out this way just as we were about to start shipping."
The farmers' worries do not end with this year's harvest.
This is because if the grapevines submerged in water for over a day rot from the roots up and die, it will be hard to even expect farming for next year.
Lee fell into despair, saying, "If humans die when they cannot breathe for a day, how could trees be fine?"
Although the damage is severe, recovery work is making little headway.
Hong, 76, who farms grapes nearby, said, "Even with plans to recover, there is a lack of labor so we haven't been able to work properly yet. My family members have come out to the farm to clear the flood debris, but being in an outlying area, we are not receiving help from volunteers."
He added, "The vineyard is our livelihood, but it is beyond our capacity for the farmers alone to handle the recovery."
With the situation as it is, the Dundeok Grape Festival, a representative annual festival of Dundeok-myeon, was ultimately canceled.
The extreme downpours swallowed not only the vineyards but also various farming materials necessary for agriculture.
A warehouse of about 200 pyeong at the nearby Dundeok Agricultural Cooperative's integrated farming materials store was also submerged in water.
Although most of the water filling the warehouse had receded by today, the fourth day of flood recovery, the supplies needed for farming were rendered entirely unusable.
It was assessed that farming materials including fertilizers, hundreds of bags of livestock feed, and about 1,600 bags of salt suffered flood damage.
The Dundeok Agricultural Cooperative expects the scale of damage to increase further during the recovery process.
Today, employees belonging to the Dundeok Agricultural Cooperative continued their work of moving wet items from the warehouse to the parking lot under scorching sunlight.
An official from the Dundeok Agricultural Cooperative explained, "Recovery is an urgent situation so we must continue the work. As necessary farming materials for the right season are all soaked in water, it seems there will be disruptions to this year's grape and napa cabbage farming."
They added, "Even if we carry out flood recovery, it is expected to take a considerable amount of time to receive compensation, leaving us feeling helpless."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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