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The 11th typhoon 'Hinnamno' with strong power passed through Gyeongnam this morning (the 6th), but the low-lying area of Changwon City avoided the nightmare of typhoon 'Maemi' 20 years ago, which caused enormous human and property damage.
In 2003, typhoon 'Maemi' hit the lowlands along the coast around Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si.
At that time, when the high tide and the landing time of the typhoon overlapped, the water level in Masan Bay rose significantly, causing a tsunami in the city.
Eighteen citizens in shopping malls were swept away by the tsunami and lost their lives.
Hinnamno resembles Typhoon Maemi in that it has a similar movement path, is an autumn typhoon that came to Korea around Chuseok, maintained strong power until it landed in the southern coast of Gyeongnam, and landed in Gyeongnam at the time of high tide. .
Masanhappo-gu residents have stayed up all night with their eyes open since last night for fear of repeating the nightmare of typhoon 'Maemi' ahead of Chuseok.
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But this time it was different.
Although some facilities such as signboards and traffic lights fell due to strong winds, no one was injured and no property damage was reported by the city of Changwon.
Fish market merchant Lee said, "I was worried that the tsunami would ruin the Chuseok business all night, but it seems that the typhoon passed without flooding or power outage. There doesn't seem to be any," he said.
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As soon as the strong wind subsided this morning, the fish market merchants came out to the store, cleaned up the store, and started preparing for Chuseok.
Changwon City and local residents agreed that they were able to prevent possible tsunami damage thanks to thorough preparations for typhoons.
Since last weekend, Changwon City has urgently made 87,000 sandbags for clogging and supplied them to residents.
An Byeong-oh, Mayor of Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si, said, "We prepared about 12,000 sandbags, but many residents wanted them, so we made several times more and applied."
Compared to 20 years ago, Changwon City's disaster prevention capabilities have improved significantly.
Changwon City spent tens of billions of won to build a new Guhang drainage pumping station in 2007 and a new Westhang drainage pumping station in 2020 to prevent flooding in the lowlands of Masanhappo-gu, such as the fish market, Wolyeong-dong, and Haeun-dong, after the cicadas damage.
The Guhang Drainage Pumping Station has the capacity to drain 476 tons of rainwater per minute, and the Seohang District Drainage Pumping Stations (1 and 2 pump stations) have the capacity to drain 2,174 tons of rainwater per minute.
Changwon City operated drainage pumping stations in the Old Port and West Port districts around 4:41 am today, high tide time of Masan Bay, and forcibly discharged rainwater to the sea.
Park Chang-seon, head of the safety construction department in Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si, said, "The high tide level rose significantly due to the influence of 'Hinnamno', but there was no major problem with drainage without operating the pumping station 100%. Nothing came in."
In addition, along the shoreline of the fish market where sushi restaurants are concentrated, a disaster prevention hill with transparent tempered glass walls and a standing disaster prevention wall has been created, further enhancing the preparation for typhoons.
(Photo = Yonhap News)