Typhoon Batters S. Korea, Preparations Minimize Casualties

 SEOUL The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years dumped up to one meter (3 feet) of rain on Tuesday, destroying roads and downing power lines, but the death toll would have been three had it not been for evacuations and school closures. . , officials said.

It also drew public attention to the storm and its dangers. Typhoon Ginnamer struck weeks after heavy rains lashed the capital Seoul, causing flooding and killing at least 14 people.

Government officials kept the country on high alert for days, warning that Hinamanor's approach could cause a historic disaster, prompting life-saving measures. After grazing on the resort island of Jeju and running aground near the port city of Busan, the Hinamore weakened in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

Winds had weakened to 115 kilometers (71 mph) on Tuesday afternoon and were over the open sea 280 kilometers (173 miles) northeast of Uleong Island, the South Korea Meteorological Agency said. The agency said it will become a tropical storm overnight as it moves northeast between Russia and the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

However, there was still significant damage in the southern city of Pohang, where the storm flooded roads and buildings, caused landslides and flooded a shopping mall, killing two people and leaving at least seven people missing. Cars with broken windows and trunks littered the roads. An entire two-story villa with a swimming pool was pulled out of the ground and washed away by the flood. Soldiers were dispatched to help with rescue and reconstruction efforts as they drove in armored vehicles through streets that turned into chocolate-colored rivers.

Firefighters rushed to flooded neighborhoods on rubber trucks and rescued people and their pets. Traders rushed to salvage furniture and other goods at the famous Koryonbo market, where workers used backhoes to remove large amounts of rubbish.

Rain and flooding wash away the foundations of bridges and highways, which are often torn apart or blocked by fallen trees and power poles. Factory buildings overturned and a shipping container flew overhead and landed in a parking lot.

Pohang resident Kim Cheong-san told JTBC, “I woke up at 5 a.m. to the heavy rain and was very worried because the water rose to my doorstep. At seven o'clock in the morning, the water was still high, and people who parked their cars on the streets were afraid that their cars would be flooded. Other residents pumped water from their homes.

As of Sunday, the typhoon dumped 105 centimeters (41 inches) of rain in central Jeju, where winds gusted up to 155 kilometers per hour (96 mph). The south and east of the continent were also affected - signs and roofs were damaged, trees fell, road signs and roads were destroyed.

In Pohang, a 70-year-old woman was swept away by flash floods and another 60-year-old woman was found dead in an underground car park, where a search is underway for seven people. Rescuers were unable to answer the other man's cries for help before he disappeared, possibly swept away by the flash flood.

In the nearby city of Gyeongju, an 80-year-old woman died after her house was buried by a landslide. According to the Ministry of Interior and Defense, in another southern city of Ulsan, a 25-year-old man fell in the rain, his name was not released.

In Pohang, firefighters put out a fire that damaged at least three facilities at a major steel plant operated by POSCO. The president's representative said on condition of anonymity at the briefing that the authorities are investigating the causes of the fire.

The fire destroyed electrical equipment in one building and damaged a separate office building and a coke factory before it was extinguished, local fire officials said. About 3,200 of the 4,500 people who were forcibly evacuated had returned home by Tuesday afternoon, the Defense Ministry said. More than 80 houses, buildings and factories were flooded or destroyed, and hundreds of roads, bridges and facilities were damaged. More than 600 schools have been closed or switched to online classes. Workers managed to restore electricity to 78,890 of the 89,180 homes without power. In North Korea, state media reported "massive efforts" to minimize damage from floods and landslides. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un unveiled unspecified "minor tasks" during cabinet meetings to improve the country's disaster response capability, the Korean Central News Agency said, but gave no further details on the plans. In 2020, North Korea was severely damaged by heavy rains and floods that destroyed buildings, roads and crops and hit the country's economy.

 

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