South Korea sees 96% drop in storm deaths, 89% fall in property damage this summer

Damage from wind and flood disasters during this year's summer natural disaster preparedness period fell sharply compared with the previous year.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced Thursday that one person died from wind and flood damage during the 2026 summer natural disaster preparedness period, which ran from May 15 to Thursday — a 96 percent drop from last year's 25 fatalities. The figure also represents a 95 percent decline from the 10-year average of 9.9 deaths.

Property damage totaled 120.9 billion won ($90.3 million), down 89.3 percent from 1.13 trillion won in 2025 and 75.6 percent below the 10-year average of around 500 billion won.

Average rainfall this summer reached 558.6 millimeters over 31.2 rainy days, below the long-term norms of 727.3 millimeters and 38.5 days. Despite the lower overall totals, precipitation volatility was high, with extreme downpours concentrating heavy rain in specific areas over short periods.

On Aug. 17, Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province recorded a single-day maximum rainfall of 654.3 millimeters — the third highest on record — and an hourly maximum of 124.5 millimeters, the fourth highest.

The sole fatality also occurred in Geoje that day. In terms of casualties, the toll is the lowest since 2015.

Of the 120.9 billion won in property damage, 92.7 billion won affected public facilities and 28.2 billion won affected private facilities.

During the preparedness period, the ministry focused on three major causes of casualties — landslides, river flooding and the inundation of underground spaces — and operated a field-centered response system that prioritized evacuating residents at the first sign of danger.

For the first time, quantitative thresholds were introduced alongside the previously qualitative evacuation criteria. Under the new standards, residents must evacuate immediately when cumulative rainfall reaches 300 millimeters or more and hourly rainfall hits 50 millimeters or more.

Township and village chiefs were also granted the authority to order resident evacuations, helping prevent casualties.

In Seo-gu, Busan, officials spotted cracks in the retaining wall beneath a multi-unit residential building and evacuated residents before the wall collapsed, preventing any casualties.

In Osan, Gyeonggi Province, the chief of Sinjang 2-dong led an early evacuation of residents in semi-basement homes near the Osan Stream to a senior center on July 9 after water levels rose sharply, demonstrating proactive response to warning signs.

The government expanded its resident evacuation support teams to all cities, counties and districts nationwide, increasing total membership 30 percent from the previous year to 97,641 people. As a result, officials identified 26,189 priority evacuees who would have difficulty evacuating on their own.

Vehicle-blocking facilities at underground road underpasses have been installed at 520 of the 564 sites required to have them, a completion rate of 92.2 percent. Anti-fall covers have been fitted at 198,000 manholes (78.6 percent), and flood-prevention equipment has been installed in 24,689 semi-basement households at risk of inundation (70.4 percent).

A new "disaster-level heavy rain emergency alert" system, introduced this year, automatically sends text messages to residents at the township level when rainfall reaches disaster proportions. It was first deployed in Suseong-gu, Daegu, on July 17 and has since been sent 11 times in total.

On Aug. 17, civil defense sirens were used to order evacuations in the Ilun-myeon area of Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, rapidly relaying danger information to residents on the ground.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said it plans to closely analyze shortcomings identified during this preparedness period and strengthen its disaster response framework, with a focus on managing high-risk areas and protecting vulnerable populations, in preparation for extreme rainfall events that are becoming increasingly difficult to predict due to climate change.