As heavy rain fell in South Gyeongsang during the Liberation Day holiday, the severe drought entered a relief phase. The number of areas at the "severe" drought level fell to one from five before the holiday.
According to South Gyeongsang Province on the 17th, as of 2 p.m. that day, the agricultural water reservoir level across 18 cities and counties in the province rose to 43.1%, or 61.7% of the average (69.8%).
Before the holiday, on the 14th, the reservoir level was 32.2%, only 41.4% of the average.
South Gyeongsang Province said water from valleys and rivers continues to flow into reservoirs, and it expects reservoir levels to keep rising.
Since the 15th, more than 800 mm of rain has poured down on South Gyeongsang, mainly along the southern coast. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's automatic weather station (AWS), in the three days since the 15th, Geoje recorded 813 mm, Tongyeong 685 mm, Namhae County 281 mm, Changwon 175 mm, Uiryeong County 144 mm, Miryang 132 mm, and Changnyeong County 80 mm, with heavy rainfall recorded across all 18 cities and counties in South Gyeongsang.
As a result, some areas saw casualties and property damage, but the rain helped ease the drought in many places.
The agricultural water drought scale has four levels. "Attention" means a mild drought with reservoir levels at 70% or below of the 30-year average; "caution" is a moderate drought at 60% or below; "alert" is a severe drought at 50% or below; and "severe" is an extreme drought at 40% or below.
As of the 14th before the holiday, five of the 18 cities and counties in South Gyeongsang—Miryang, Geoje, Haman County, Uiryeong County, and Changnyeong County—were at the severe level. Nine—Changwon, Jinju, Tongyeong, Gimhae, Yangsan, Goseong County, Hadong County, Sancheong County, and Hapcheon County—were at alert; three—Sacheon, Namhae County, and Geochang County—were at caution; and Hamyang County was at attention, putting every city and county within the drought's impact zone.
However, with the rain that began at the start of the holiday, as of the 17th the severe level fell to just one area, Miryang.