Residents Who Lost Homes to Wildfires Last Year Now Devastated by Record Rainfall

[Anchor]

Residents in Andong and Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, who lost their homes in major wildfires last year, have now suffered significant damage from record-breaking heavy rain. With recovery efforts still incomplete, more monsoon rain is in the forecast.

TBC reporter Jung Sung-wook has the story.

[Reporter]

This is Gwimi Village in Iljik-myeon, Andong, which was hit by a water bomb over the past two days.

Traces of the destruction left by the floodwaters are visible everywhere.

The temporary prefabricated housing units where wildfire victims were staying have all been dismantled for safety reasons, leaving only empty lots behind.

In a house near the former temporary units, residents are trying to clear out furniture covered in mud and mop the floors, but the task feels overwhelming.

[Interview: Kim Seok-gyu / Gwimi-ri, Andong: I escaped with nothing but the clothes on my back, and I am still in shock. It is like being dead... how can I even put this into words.]

A road in Gugye-ri, Danchon-myeon, Uiseong County, remains closed, making it difficult to even access the inner parts of the village.

As of now, 84 people across four cities and counties are unable to return home and are staying in evacuation shelters such as village halls and gymnasiums.

In addition, 1.6 billion won in damages has been reported across 24 public facilities, including roads and bridges, and crop damage—affecting chili peppers, watermelons, and soybeans—has reached 41.6 hectares across the four cities and counties.

Authorities are making every effort to prevent further damage, but they are struggling to respond to this monsoon rain, which repeatedly falls in short, intense bursts before stopping.

[Interview: Lee Young-sik / Director of Public Administration and Security, Andong City: We are conducting dredging work in streams and valleys. Residents who were living in temporary housing were staying at a temporary senior center, but since that has flooded, we plan to utilize other nearby spaces as temporary shelters for their daily living.]

The problem is that rain is forecast to continue until July 22, before proper recovery efforts can even take place, raising further concerns.

There is growing fear that the lives of these victims, who were just beginning to stand back up after overcoming the pain of last year's massive wildfires, might collapse once again in the face of this heavy rain just one year later.

(Video by Kim Young-hwan, TBC)

Reported by Jung Sung-wook, TBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.