Govt rushes flood recovery to get displaced residents home before Chuseok

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Friday it is pushing to help flood-displaced residents return home before Chuseok, offering homecoming support and housing assistance to households still evacuated after the August downpours damaged or inundated their homes or cut power and water to their apartment buildings.

The August floods drove 6,176 people across 2,895 households to evacuate in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, among other areas. As of Wednesday, 226 people from 127 households across seven cities and counties in four regions — including Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province — remained displaced, staying at private lodging facilities or with relatives.

Most residents who evacuated due to flooding or utility outages in apartment buildings have already returned home as on-site recovery work has been completed.

However, 107 households in Geoje and Tongyeong that require longer-term displacement due to structural housing damage will receive housing cost support through their local governments.

The 54 households in Geoje who evacuated after a slope collapse damaged their apartment complex will have their monthly rent covered until repairs are complete. The 31 households in Geoje and 22 in Tongyeong whose homes were flooded or damaged will receive partial support for monthly rent or lodging costs if staying with relatives. Households currently staying with relatives may also receive the same support if they switch to a formal monthly lease.

Under the housing support scheme, which took effect in September, displaced residents sign a lease on a vacant home or room, move in, and then submit a claim — after which the local government pays an average of around 500,000 won ($362) per month in rent. The support continues until the resident returns home or their housing is fully repaired.

The ministry has already provided 190 million won in disaster relief funds to Geoje and Tongyeong to supply bottled water and other relief goods to residents temporarily displaced by power and water outages in apartment buildings. It has also been working with local governments to cover lodging and meal costs for temporarily evacuated residents through disaster relief funds.

On Wednesday, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters approved a recovery plan for the August flood damage and decided to commit a total of 230.8 billion won in restoration funds. Areas where flooding of electrical intake equipment caused power outages will receive partial support for the cost of replacing or repairing the equipment.

The ministry plans to work with local governments to quickly disburse disaster relief payments to residents whose private property, including homes, was damaged by flooding.

"We will closely monitor local governments' relief operations so that flood victims who have lost their homes do not face further hardship ahead of the holiday," Kim Gwang-yong, head of the ministry's Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, said. "We will press ahead with recovery efforts to get as many households as possible back home before Chuseok, and will work carefully with local governments to ensure housing support reaches those who cannot yet return without delay."