The city of Seoul will upgrade its flood control measures for the first time in a decade after record rainfall caused fatal flooding in August.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government shared a blueprint on Thursday outlining a ten-year, three-point-five trillion won plan to adjust the city’s flood prevention system for the first time since 2012.
The plan includes raising the baseline amount of hourly rain the city’s facilities can handle from 95 millimeters per hour to 100 millimeters, while the flood-prone Gangnam District will be upped to 110 millimeters.
Two trillion won will also be spent on improving infrastructure like sewer pipes and rainwater pumping stations as well as constructing additional rain storage tanks around the city, while the capacity of water circulation infrastructure will more than double by 2040.
Another aspect of the initiative includes the installation of systems at ten-thousand sewage manholes designed to prevent people from falling in after the summer floods claimed several lives this way.
The initiative follows Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s pledge in August to build large rainwater tunnels in six areas prone to flooding such as Gangnam, which suffered from horrendous flooding this year.