Senior centers, welfare facilities among community-based shelters; designated managers and inspections to ensure safety
Seoul's Dobong-gu will operate heat-relief shelters across the district from this month through the end of September, the district office announced.
A total of 163 shelters will be open, including one at the Dobong-gu District Office, 14 at neighborhood community centers, 127 at senior centers, eight at welfare facilities, and one at the Ssangridangil Platform Modu-on.
Regular hours run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. When a heat wave advisory is in effect, weekday hours extend to 10 p.m., while weekend and holiday hours run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Hours may be adjusted at individual facilities depending on their circumstances.
The district will also operate three overnight heat-relief shelters — one each in the Dobong-dong, Banghak-dong and Changdong areas.
The shelters are open to heat-vulnerable residents aged 65 and older living in Dobong-gu. Residents can apply by visiting or calling their local neighborhood community center.
Shelter locations and details are available on the Dobong-gu website, the National Safety 24 website, Seoul Safety Nuri, and the Safety Stepping Stone app.
To ensure safe operations, the district has designated managers — including overall coordinators from the disaster safety division, facility management staff, and on-site supervisors — and plans to conduct self-inspections throughout the heat wave response period to prevent operational problems.
"Weather forecasters expect this summer to be hotter than average," said Dobong-gu District Mayor Oh Eon-seok. "We will push ahead without delay on heat wave measures that residents can feel directly, including operating the heat-relief shelters, so that everyone in the district can get through the summer safely."
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