The summer monsoon and typhoon season in Korea runs from June to October. As a result, U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan may experience disruptions to daily operations.
Heavy rains, strong winds and sometimes even flooding can be observed during the summer at USAG-Yongsan. This notoriously rainy period is known in Korean as "Changma" or the monsoon season in Korea. More than 40% of the yearly rainfall in Korea occurs during the Changma season. Due to climate change, Changma has been known to continue even into September.
USAG-Yongsan's most recent and perhaps most serious experience with summer destructive weather took place in September 2010 when Typhoon Kompasu swept through the Korean peninsula. Typhoon Kompasu hit USAG-Yongsan with 65-mile-per-hour sustained winds and dumped over 25 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. The storm destroyed more than 3000 trees on the garrison and caused more than $3 million in damages.
Since many of the older buildings and facilities at USAG-Yongsan may be seriously damaged during the Changma and typhoon season, a carefully designed operational plan for preventing and alleviating damage has been put into place. The three-phase concept of operations put forth by USAG Yongsan consists of pre-season preparations, summer DW (Destructive Weather) mitigation operations and post-season requirements.
During the pre-season preparations phase, USAG-Yongsan and tenant units review lessons learned from the last summer season and make necessary adjustments to summer DW mitigation plans. USAG-Yongsan prepares the garrison by conducting a spring cleanup of the housing areas and areas prone to flooding. Additionally, USAG Yongsan and tenant units participate in a table top exercise to validate response actions and coordination between tenant units and the USAG Yongsan Installation Operations Center (IOC).
During the summer DW mitigation operations phase, tenant unit plans and standing operating procedures are utilized to make response actions safe and efficient. As potential destructive weather begins to move into the USAG Yongsan area of responsibility, the IOC activates and monitors the weather through official and external sources in order to provide the most accurate update to the Garrison Commander and the Yongsan community.
The USAG Yongsan Public Affairs Office provides situational updates on social media and all command channels. It is important to remember that destructive weather impacts the garrison, and safety is the number one priority. The community is advised to stay abreast of weather situations, avoid areas that are flooded and not drive around downed power lines.
Finally, during the post-season requirements phase, USAG Yongsan conducts an AAR with tenant units and the garrison staff in order to capture comments and lessons learned from the summer monsoon and typhoon season. The lessons learned area then used to update tenant unit and USAG Yongsan summer DW mitigation plans and SOPs.x
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