On July 21th 2017, HUMAN IN LOVE urgently dispatched volunteers to help recover Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, which was hit hard by an unprecedented heavy rain and flood.
[HUMAN IN LOVE’s flood recovery activities in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea (2017. 7. 21) ]
The heavy rain started from July 14th 2017, and led to heavy downpours which amounted to 91.8mm on July 16th 2017. This caused landslides all over the city, submerging the downtown of Cheongju-si. Cars were floating in the stream and the residents were helpless to see the unprecedented flood damage.
Preparing For Disaster Recovery
After monitoring the situation, HUMAN IN LOVE contacted the provincial governments of Chungcheongnam-do and Chungcheongbuk-do to see which area is in desperate need of help and started recruiting volunteers on July 17th 2017. Finally, we launched a disaster recovery team of around 50 volunteers including HUMAN IN LOVE staff and supporters from Seoul, Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do, and went to Miwon-myeon with flood recovery supplies.
Residents Were Devastated
We arrived at Miwon-myeon after two hours of driving from Seoul. We followed the town head’s truck and saw residents waiting for volunteers. The residents were so much in a hurry even when the volunteers started wearing the boots. One team went to ginseng fields and the other team went to submerged houses.
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s flood recovery activities in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea (2017. 7. 21) ]
Couldn’t Believe What Had Happened Here
On July 16th 2017, ginseng fields, chicken farms, roads and houses were flooded due to the heavy downpours. We couldn’t say a word, seeing the damage that might appear in the television.
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s flood recovery activities in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea (2017. 7. 21) ]
The chicken farms stank with dead chickens and all of the home appliances, furniture, clothes and blankets were spattered with mud. Only mud and straws were left on the ginseng fields that the residents cared for so much. We felt so sorry and devastated that we couldn’t even comfort them.
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s flood recovery activities in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea (2017. 7. 21) ]
We needed to swiftly remove mud from the ginseng fields before the mud got hardened. Since it was difficult to bring heavy equipment into houses, we had to manually restore the site. HIL volunteers went into the ginseng fields and stood in a line to remove the mud and straws. No one complained in the scorching heat although it was very difficult to move even a step because of the mud.
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s flood recovery activities in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea (2017. 7. 21) ]
The team that went to residential areas washed the dishes that can be reused and moved the stuff that can’t be used again and then cleaned the inside. It was heartbreaking to see their children’s wedding photos, parents’ photos and other belongings get dirty with mud.We hope Miwon-myeon gets restored soon and the residents get due compensation.
[ HUMAN IN LOVE’s flood recovery activities in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea (2017. 7. 21) ]
We sincerely thank HIL volunteers and supporters for helping flood recovery, Geumcheon-gu Office for providing vehicles, Cheongju-si Volunteer Center for providing lunch and Lee Soon-gi for his leadership.
