HEAVY SNOWFALL HITS ULLEUNGDO ISLAND

[Anchor Lead]

Ulleungdo Island saw more than 70cm of snow, and as it continued to snow with no end in sight, residents were busy removing snow piled up everywhere. More than a hundred travelers were stranded as passenger ferries operating between Ulleungdo and the land were suspended due to the heavy snowfall and strong winds.

[Pkg]

Ulleungdo Island is blanketed in snow. The whiteout blizzard conditions make walking difficult. Residents remove waist-high snow in front of their houses and in back alleys. Shoveling alone is not enough as it keeps snowing with no end in sight.

[Soundbite] Kim Ok-bun(Ulleung-gun resident) : "It’s very inconvenient. We have to remove snow and it’s hard to move around."

Parked cars are nearly buried in snow. Some cars hit the road with snow still layered on top. Large plow trucks remove the snow on major roads. Small machinery is deployed to clean up back streets. Excavators move snow to trucks. Frozen snow in trunks is melted with seawater.

[Soundbite] Jeong Sun-il(Ulleung-gun County official) : "We kept working all night, almost 20 hours. It’s snowing a lot."

Ulleungdo Island has seen some 70cm of snow. More than a meter of snow has accumulated in mountainous areas. More than a hundred travelers have been stranded for days as passenger ferries operating between Ulleungdo and Pohang were suspended due to the heavy snowfall and strong winds.

[Soundbite] Kim Ae-yeon(Gapyeong-gun resident, Gyeonggi-do Prov.) : "I planned to take a ferry today (Jan. 24), but it has been canceled. I don’t know when I’ll be able to leave."

A 7.8km section on a coastal road on Ulleungdo Island has been closed due to strong waves.