"Everything Has Collapsed"... Rain Stops, But Recovery Remains Daunting

[Anchor]

The heavy downpour that continued until yesterday (July 10) was concentrated particularly in the Chungcheong region. With over 500 reports of damage filed, including severed roads and homes flooded with water, recovery efforts are facing significant difficulties.

Reporter Hong Seung-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a landscaping tree farm in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, where 120mm of rain poured down.

A 10-meter-high retaining wall collapsed, creating a precarious cliff.

A portion of the farm that collapsed had been home to about 200 tree pots.

Now, they are buried under piles of dirt.

The farm owner, who has spent six years working day and night to cultivate these trees, is devastated.

Recovery work is not even an option at this point.

[Kim Dae-ho/Farm Operator: The trees are secondary; it is the recovery. It has reached a point where a private citizen cannot even dare to attempt to fix it...]

The road leading to another nearby village collapsed due to the torrential rain.

Although dirt has been piled up at the severed section of the road, proper recovery has yet to begin.

In a field in Cheongju, where over 200mm of rain fell during this monsoon season, farmers are busy replanting sesame seeds.

This is because the entire field was submerged in the downpour, killing all the crops they had carefully nurtured.

[Kim Jin-bun/Farmer affected by heavy rain: It poured down and turned into a sea of water. The sesame plants were all submerged and died, so I am getting seeds from others to replant.]

The situation is the same for other farms.

The seedling nursery has turned into a mud pit, and the tomatoes and chili peppers inside the plastic greenhouses are all covered in muddy water.

Inside homes where rainwater flooded in, traces of the inundation remain.

Although the water has barely been drained, clearing out all the belongings soaked in muddy water is an overwhelming task.

[Shin Ho-seop/Gangnae-myeon, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province: About 1 meter from the floor was submerged (in water), so all the household goods on the floor had to be thrown away.]

About 500 cases of damage have been reported in the Chungcheong region due to this rain.

Although the rain has stopped, it is expected to take a considerable amount of time for full recovery.

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 reporting: Kim Min-chul, Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.