Korea Insurance Development Institute Launches Emergency Evacuation Notification Service for Vehicles at Risk of Flooding

96% of Vehicle Flood Incidents Occur Between July and October

The Korea Insurance Development Institute announced on the 24th that it is operating an 'Emergency Evacuation Notification Service' to reduce vehicle flood damage caused by heavy rain and typhoons.

On the morning of the 10th, as Typhoon Khanun, the 6th typhoon, moved northward, heavy rain exceeding 60mm per hour poured down in Seongsan District, Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province, flooding a road in Naedong, where cars were submerged. Photo by Yonhap News.

This is because 95.7% of vehicle flooding incidents processed through auto insurance over the past five years occurred between July and October, when monsoon rains and typhoons are most frequent, highlighting the importance of preemptive measures during the summer season.

According to the Korea Insurance Development Institute, there were a total of 35,011 vehicle flooding incidents handled through auto insurance over the past five years (2021–2025). Of these, 33,490 cases (95.7%) occurred between July and October.

By year, 2022 saw the highest number of flooding incidents with 18,267 cases, due to heavy rain concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. Last year, there were 7,765 cases of vehicle flood damage. Notably, 7,050 incidents occurred during a ten-day period of heavy rain between July and September last year, accounting for 90.8% of the annual flood damage. This demonstrates that most of the annual flood damage was caused by short-term heavy rainfall.

In response, since June 2024, the Korea Insurance Development Institute has been operating the Emergency Evacuation Notification Service in cooperation with non-life insurance companies, local governments, and the police, to reduce damage caused by heavy rain and typhoons.

When an insurance company employee, local government, or police officer discovers a vehicle parked in a flood-prone area, they enter the license plate number into the system. The vehicle owner is then notified of evacuation through SMS, KakaoTalk, or voice guidance. The aim is to alert vehicle owners early to dangerous situations and help them move their vehicles to safe areas.

Since the launch of the service, emergency evacuation notifications were sent to 2,802 vehicles at risk of flooding last year. Of these, only 9 vehicles suffered flood damage.

Heo Chang-eon, president of the Korea Insurance Development Institute, stated, "As abnormal weather conditions are expected to continue this year, we anticipate flood damage caused by localized heavy rain. We hope that the Emergency Evacuation Notification Service will help protect the valuable lives and property of the people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.