MERCHANTS SUFFER SERIOUS DAMAGE OVER MONSOON

[Anchor Lead]

Yesterday more than 100 millimeters of rain again pummeled the already inundated Hwagae Market in Hadong, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. Merchants who lost their lifelong businesses wiped away their tears and sorted through their belongings in the midst of the downpours to recover as much as they can.

[Pkg]

A blinding downpour battered the famous Hwagae Market in Hadong-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. But these merchants have no time to curse at the rain. A restaurant owner, drenched in rain, washes a dish drying machine with river water. She hopes to use the machine after drying it up.

[Soundbite] BAE JEONG-JA(MERCHANT AT HWAGAE MARKET) : "I can't stop because I have to recover anything I can."

Merchants wash the muddied bottles, cans, and even shoes wrapped in plastic in big buckets. Hardened mud would be harder to wash off, so they need to wash all the dirty products immediately even if they have to use rain water. Roughly 3,000 volunteers have been assigned to help the merchants over the past two days. Merchants, soldiers, and volunteers have all come together to clean up the mounds of soggy trash as quickly as possible.

[Soundbite] PARK SEONG-EUN(HADONG RESIDENT) : "I came to volunteer. How can I stay still as a resident at a time like this?"

But water is running short and power is out slowing down restoration efforts. Industrial refrigerators and tables are abandoned after the flood made them completely useless. The merchants of Hwagae Market are trying hard to continue their restoration efforts and get back to their normal lives as soon as possible.