An aerial view of Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard [Hanwha Ocean]
An aerial view of Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard [Hanwha Ocean]

Extreme rainfall over the Liberation Day holiday weekend has caused widespread damage across Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.

Amid the downpour, both of the city's major shipyards — Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries — notified workers Monday that they should either stay home or stand by rather than report to work.

Hanwha Ocean announced through its companywide disaster response center that roads in Geoje had been closed due to heavy rain, making it impossible for employees to commute.

Samsung Heavy Industries similarly told workers scheduled for holiday shifts not to come in and to remain on standby.

A Samsung Heavy Industries official said the instruction was issued after roads around the shipyard became impassable. "We understand the standby notice was sent to workers who were scheduled to come in on Monday, a holiday," the official said, adding that operations had not been suspended.

Some docks at Samsung Heavy Industries flooded as a result of the heavy rain.

More than 800 millimeters of rain fell on Geoje over the three-day Liberation Day holiday weekend, with over 400 millimeters recorded in an extreme downpour between Sunday night and early Monday morning, causing damage across the city.


gil@heraldcorp.com