"South Gyeongsang Province Is Burning"...Military Water Tankers from the Army, Navy and Air Force Deployed in Force Amid Severe Drought

As an extreme drought continued across South Gyeongsang Province and agricultural water supplies dried up, more than 100 vehicles from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps were urgently deployed to irrigate farmland, following the fire authorities.
According to the 39th Homeland Defense Infantry Division and the Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department on the 15th, 102 vehicles provided by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps will be assigned to drought-hit sites in the province starting that day. The military vehicles are expected to travel through nine cities and counties, including Tongyeong, Jinju, Hadong County, Sancheong County, Changwon, Gimhae, Haman County, Hapcheon County and Sacheon, to supply agricultural water to parched farmland.
The 39th Division had already begun water-supply support on the 13th by mobilizing its own vehicles and vehicles from the 2nd Operational Command. With support vehicles from military units nationwide joining in earnest on the day, the scale of joint civilian-government-military assistance expanded significantly.
Water-supply operations by the fire authorities are also gaining momentum as the National Fire Agency's mobilization order has been extended. One hundred water tankers dispatched from 12 fire departments nationwide have been concentrated in five of the hardest-hit areas, Miryang, Geoje, Haman County, Uiryeong and Changnyeong County, with 20 vehicles each. Another 59 water tankers from the Gyeongsangnam-do and Changwon fire departments are also helping deliver water across 18 cities and counties in the province.
Since the National Fire Agency issued the mobilization order on the 12th, cumulative water deliveries through the previous day reached 26,233 tons, including 15,028 tons from vehicles dispatched nationwide and 11,205 tons from vehicles based in the province. As the drought shows signs of becoming prolonged, all available water-carrying resources are being mobilized, including wildfire trucks from local governments and even private water-spraying trucks owned by regional construction firms.
The drought situation in South Gyeongsang Province is worsening by the day. As of the 14th, the province's average agricultural reservoir level had fallen sharply to 32.2 percent, well below half of the normal level of 70.6 percent.
As a result, drought alerts for agricultural water have been issued in all cities and counties in the province. The five areas mentioned above are at the 'severe' level, while the remaining nine areas — Changwon, Jinju, Tongyeong, Gimhae, Yangsan, Goseong County, Hadong County, Sancheong County and Hapcheon County — remain at the 'warning' level. Agricultural drought stages are classified based on reservoir levels compared with the seasonal average: 'watch' at 70 percent or below, 'caution' at 60 percent or below, 'warning' at 50 percent or below, and 'severe' at 40 percent or below.
Meanwhile, as drought damage spread beyond control, South Gyeongsang Province and the Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department urgently requested on the 13th that the National Fire Agency extend the deployment period for fire tanker trucks under the national mobilization order.
[email protected] Kim Dong-gyu Reporter