Two hundred fire department water tankers from across the country gathered in South Gyeongsang, which is experiencing an extreme drought.

According to the South Gyeongsang Fire Department Headquarters on the 12th, a national fire mobilization order was issued for the South Gyeongsang region as of 8 p.m. the previous day. Starting this day through the 13th, 200 water tankers from 16 fire department headquarters nationwide, including 39 from Seoul and 37 from Gyeonggi, will support water supply. Four hundred firefighting personnel also moved to South Gyeongsang.

With the drought persisting mainly in South Gyeongsang Province, fire engines from Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province gather in the parking lot of Milyang Sports Complex in Gyodong, Miryang, South Gyeongsang, on the 12th. /Courtesy of News1

The 200 water tankers will be distributed across 14 cities and counties in South Gyeongsang. The largest number, 40, will be deployed to Miryang, where the drought is severe. Jinju, Sacheon, and Gimhae each received 20. Yangsan received 18; Namhae and Hadong received 14 each; Geoje, Uiryeong, Geochang, and Changwon received 10 each; Changnyeong received 6; and Tongyeong and Haman received 4 each.

A medium water tanker can carry 6,000 to 12,000 liters (L) of water at a time. The tankers shuttle between intake points and water-scarce areas to supply agricultural and domestic water.

In South Gyeongsang, the overlap of a heat wave and drought has raised concerns about a shortage of agricultural water. According to the Agricultural Drought Management System (ADMS), as of this day, the average water storage level of agricultural reservoirs in the province was 33.3%, 48 percentage points lower than the normal 71.3%.

This national fire mobilization order was issued after the South Gyeongsang Fire Department Headquarters, judging that there were limits to supporting water supply with its own firefighting resources amid the ongoing drought, requested mobilization from the National Fire Agency. A national fire mobilization order is issued when it is difficult to respond to a disaster with the firefighting resources of a specific city or province alone. This is the second time a national fire mobilization order has been issued due to drought, following Gangneung in August last year.

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