SEOUL: In South Korea, Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall in the country's southern regions on Tuesday, bringing down trees and roads and leaving 66,000 homes without power in heavy rain and strong winds. Thousands of people were evacuated to safer places.
The storm passed Jeju Island at midnight local time and made landfall on the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula at 4:50 am before heading back out to sea at about 7:10 am. It was downgraded to “strong” from “super strong” with winds up to 96 miles per hour being observed, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. By 1 p.m., typhoon warnings were lifted in all parts of South Korea.
South Korean officials have warned the country of possible damage from floods, landslides and tidal waves unleashed by Hinnamnor, weeks after heavy rains killed at least 14 people in the area around the capital Seoul.
More than 105 centimetres (41 inches) of rain fell in central Jeju since Sunday, with wind speeds of up to 155 kilometres (96 mph). Heavy rains also hit the southern and eastern mainland regions, causing signboards and roofs to collapse, trees and power poles toppling and turning roads into chocolate-coloured rivers.
Prime Minister Han Duk-soo called for evacuations in areas vulnerable to flooding, saying Hinnamnor could end up being a “historically strong typhoon that we have never experienced before.”
A 70-year-old woman was caught in a flash flood in the southern city of Pohang, and two others are missing, including a 25-year-old man who fell into a stream in the nearby city of Ulsan, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Security.
More than 600 schools have closed or shifted to online classes. More than 250 flights and 70 ferry services were suspended while more than 66,000 fishing boats were returned to ports. Out of the 66,341 households that lost electricity, the workers managed to restore electricity to 30,006 households.
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