On the July 30 broadcast of SBS "Tails of Tales", the program revisited the day Typhoon Rusa struck the Korean Peninsula, recording the highest number of casualties since 2000 and the largest amount of property damage ever caused by a typhoon under the subtitle "The Forgotten People - Typhoon Rusa".
On August 31, 2002, Typhoon Rusa struck. While the entire country was under the influence of the typhoon, the area that took the direct hit was Gangneung, Gangwon Province.
Typhoon Rusa caused the highest number of casualties since 2000, with 8 missing and 238 dead. The property damage at the time reached a staggering 5.1479 trillion won, making it the record-holder for the highest property damage caused by a typhoon in history.
Daily rainfall far exceeding several times the average precipitation of the monsoon season caused landslides, washed-out roads, and damages in various places. Consequently, the Gangneung Fire Station was in utter chaos with a barrage of calls from people requesting rescue.
Then an even bigger crisis struck. The floodgates of the Obong Dam in Gangneung, which played a role in preventing flood damage in the downstream lowlands, would not open. With power outages in the Gangneung area due to the torrential rain leaving the gates uncontrollable, failing to open the gates meant that if the Obong Dam collapsed, Gangneung could be completely wiped off the map of the Korean Peninsula in a worst-case scenario.
Amidst such a situation, evacuations were underway across various parts of Gangneung. Among those evacuating to higher ground was Gyu-tae and his family. Gyu-tae and his family were escaping to higher ground in a car. As their vehicle was being swept away by the rapid currents, Gyu-tae escaped the car with his family to survive.
Holding his wife in one arm and his two daughters in the other, he stepped forward carefully, step by step. However, at a certain moment, the strength in his arm gave out, and his wife was swept away by the rapid current right before his eyes. And Gyu-tae had no choice but to simply watch.
Just as he took another careful step forward to protect even his two daughters, his second daughter disappeared before he knew it. A moment later, Gyu-tae even lost his grip on his eldest daughter's hand. He, too, was swept away by the fierce current in an instant.
Afterward, Gyu-tae barely managed to save his life. However, his wife and two daughters were nowhere to be seen, and their fates remained unknown.
And then, the floodgates of the Obong Dam, which had been at risk of collapse, opened. Yet an even greater problem awaited them. With the record-breaking rainfall, the water pouring in was greater than the water escaping through the opened gates, leaving the water level just one meter below its maximum level.
Faced with an unprecedented situation, the Mayor of Gangneung fell into deep contemplation over whether to issue an emergency evacuation order for the entire city of Gangneung. While the entire city needed to evacuate, an evacuation order could also trigger an even greater panic. In the end, the mayor decided to wait for the typhoon to pass and did not issue an emergency evacuation order.
As night fell, the rain dramatically stopped, the water level of the Obong Dam dropped, and the worst-case scenario was thus averted. However, the next day, Gangneung was left looking like a wasteland.
At the time, there were some 23,000 flood victims in Gangneung. Firefighters immediately set out to search for the missing persons starting the next day.
Captain Kim Young-gon was serving as a company commander for the Gangneung Iron Wall Unit when Typhoon Rusa made landfall. After all his unit members had evacuated, he managed to make a check-in call to his wife, before news of his disappearance broke the next day.
Right after finishing his phone call with his wife, he went out to control traffic, but unable to ignore the desperate pleas for help from people requesting rescue, he went to assist them personally. While rescuing an elderly couple, he lost his balance and was swept away by the rapid current.
His wife prayed desperately for him to stay alive and waited for him. However, after four days of failing to find her husband, just as everyone was growing exhausted, his body was recovered.
Appearing like a birthday gift, Captain Kim—who was Yoon-jung's first and last love—had no choice but to leave the side of the family he loved so dearly.
Meanwhile, a few days after being separated from his family during the evacuation, Gyu-tae found his wife, who had passed away and looked as though she were peacefully asleep. Thirty-seven days later, the body of his eldest daughter was found in a nearby rice paddy, and a month after that, the body of his second daughter was found.
Recalling that time, Gyu-tae said, "You have to consider that I wasn't in my right mind; being in my right mind would have been abnormal." He tormented himself with guilt, believing that he had lost his daughter because he let go of her hand.
August 31, the day Typhoon Rusa made landfall, was his second daughter's birthday. Without ever getting to go on the beach trip she dreamed of so much, his second daughter had to leave this world. And Gyu-tae still longs for his daughter and wife.
The name of the typhoon that caused catastrophic damage was permanently retired, causing the name Typhoon Rusa to disappear completely. Now, 24 years later, people's memories of Typhoon Rusa are gradually fading as well.
However, Gyu-tae still lives in the place where he stayed with his family, and Young-gon's daughter, who smiled innocently in front of her father's portrait, is now preparing for marriage.
Those who lost their precious family members in just a single day—some cannot get behind the wheel due to the memories of that day, while others continue to live with their loved ones buried deep in their hearts to this day. Even if the name Typhoon Rusa is erased, those who suffered the damage and those who plunged into the typhoon to save others should never be forgotten.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Hyo-jung)