In Korea, the predominant natural disasters that occur include heavy rain, typhoons, heavy snow, and strong winds, with heavy snow ranking as the second most damaging natural disaster after heavy rain and typhoons. Damage caused by heavy snow includes not only direct damage from snow cover but also indirect damage due to traffic congestion; therefore, interest in heavy snow damage is increasing. Accordingly, in this study, a vulnerability index was established by conducting heavy snow vulnerability analysis employing the pressure-state-response (PSR) technique. The data utilized in the vulnerability analysis encompassed meteorological characteristics and socio-economic factors of each region, including the length of road extensions by city, county, and district, the maximum daily snow cover, the number of days with an average temperature below 0 °C, and the average sunshine hours. Additionally, the number of snowfalls in each region (0–5, 5–10, 10–15, and > 15 cm) was analyzed and converted to a number between 0 and 1. By adding the results of the two analyses, we proposed a priority for snow-removal equipment input in the following order: Nonsan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Buyeo-gun, Gongju-si, Jeongeup-si, Jeollabuk-do, Naju-si, and Jeollanam-do. The proposed priority for snow-removal equipment is expected to be used as basic data to establish standards for securing such equipment in each administrative district.
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