SBS 'I want to know' investigates the cause of the flooding in Gangnam, Seoul.
'Death Hole - Why the City Has Became a Weapon', which will be aired on the 3rd of 'I want to know', is a part about the Gangnam flooding on August 8th, when many people were in a dangerous situation due to heavy rain. Let's take a look.
On August 10th, Lee Sang-woo, who works at Dongjak Fire Station, was asked to dispatch support from the Seocho Fire Station.
He came to the scene with an air bottle and an oxygen mask, not at the scene of the fire, but under the ground, right under the manhole.
His job was to find someone.
The disappearance accident occurred in the middle of Gangnam, Seoul, on that night when it rained heavily.
Kim (pseudonym) brother and sister returned after visiting his parents' house to take care of his ill father.
They encountered a road situation in which rainwater had filled up to the wheels of the vehicle due to a sudden torrential rain.
The siblings decided that it was impossible to drive the car and got out of the car and waited in a nearby building for the rain to stop.
However, the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping even after waiting for several hours.
The siblings headed to the parked vehicle to get back to her house before the rain started to intensify.
But that choice brought tragedy.
It was a dark night, and the road was full of muddy water.
Her brother and sister, who had no idea what was under the muddy water, fell into a manhole next to her car while walking.
The two disappeared into the ground in an instant.
About 80 rescuers were sent in and searched the underground world connected by a sewer pipe to rescue her, but her siblings were not easily found.
Sadly, the two were found dead in different places.
A manhole is a vertical hole that connects the ground and the underground.
Usually, it is a structure made for the maintenance of water and sewage pipes or underground electric wires under the ground.
In addition, various types of manhole covers are installed in the part leading to the ground.
A manhole cover that usually weighs over 100 kg.
The tragedy that came to the Kim brothers and sisters was that the manhole cover had disappeared.
Regarding the opening of the manhole cover that should have been tightly closed that day, the local government said that the rainwater pushed the manhole cover away as the water pressure in the rainwater box under the manhole increased due to heavy rain.
The hourly rainfall intensity at the time of the accident was 123 mm, which is said to have a probability of falling once in 300 years.
In the end, it was explained that the cause was an unpredictable natural disaster.
However, no matter how much it rained, how should we understand the situation in which the manhole cover opened in the rain, and people fell into it, resulting in loss of life?
On August 8th, a record heavy rain occurred.
Gangnam, Seoul, which had been recognized as the best city center in Korea, was helpless in the rain.
There were many reports about the flooded Gangnam, and unknown suspicions were raised.
Citizens said that Gangnam was often flooded from the beginning, but this time, the 'speed of rain water filling up and falling' was strange.
One informant said that he showed photos and videos of rainwater that had been rushing up to the top of the car's bonnet and disappeared after only 20 minutes to an hour, and he thought that this flood damage could be not just a genius, but a human resource.
This means that the drainage system may have been running late or not working properly.
In addition, he added that there was a power outage due to heavy rain that day, and officials who should have checked the safety of roads and streets must have been embarrassed because they were not prepared for such an event.
A tragedy that may occur again in conjunction with a global abnormal climate phenomenon.
In order to know the truth about the flood that took people's lives, the production team of 'I want to know' met with many related organizations and experts.
In addition, through the flooding video sent by many informants, such as CCTV and black box, and heavy rain records measured by various organizations, we examined whether there are any problems with the downtown drainage system.
And during the interview, I found out that there is a way to simulate the relationship between rainfall and flooded areas.
'I want to know', which examines the flooding of Gangnam caused by the heavy rain on August 8th, and seeks to find out how to prevent flooding damage by tracing the cause, analyzing policies and drainage systems with experts, and reporting on Japanese cases. '
(SBS Entertainment News reporter Kang Seon-ae)