SEOUL — South Korea was hit by heavy rain and strong winds on Tuesday, but Typhoon Hinamnoor made it out to sea earlier than forecasters expected, avoiding the massive destruction many feared.
By Tuesday evening, officials said three deaths had been reported and eight were missing. Nationwide damage appears to have been limited. Isolated floods have caused trees to be cut down, street lights broken, and about 66,000 households, mostly in the south, without power. 40 inches of rain was recorded on Jeju Island and 11 inches in cities closer to the southern coast.
Cheong Tae Sung, a flood expert at South Korea’s National Institute of Disaster Management, said the deadly floods that hit the country last month left both the public and authorities in one of the most powerful storms ever. He said he was ready to deal with Hinnamnor’s danger. Arrive on the coast of Korea.
“Compared to the past, we prepared a lot more before this typhoon, suspending schools, delaying work days, closing roads, and simply spreading the word,” he said.
When the eye reached the south coast at 4:50 am, Hinamnor was packing maximum sustained winds of 89 mph. It was the eighth strongest typhoon in South Korea’s history, but not the strongest.
Areas along the southern coast like Pohang, a city of about half a million people north of Busan, were the hardest hit, with houses, roads and cars submerged and bridges collapsing. Pohang-based Posco, the country’s largest steel mill, has halted operations due to flooding.
A 75-year-old woman from the area died trying to reach dry land. A woman in her 60s, also from the area, was found dead in an underground car park. Another victim died in a landslide in Gyeongju on the southeastern coast, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Security.
Still, Hinnamnor crossed the southern coast of the country quickly and was back at sea by 7:10 am, leaving far less damage than expected.
Meteorologists say the storm’s swift dispersal helped limit the damage. “The fact that the typhoon made landfall for about two hours may have played a role in the extent of the damage,” Lee Kwang-hyun, a forecast analyst at the Korea Meteorological Agency, said at a press conference on Tuesday. “There is not a perfect one-to-one correlation between typhoon strength and wind and rainfall.”
By Tuesday evening, skies had cleared across South Korea and Hinnamnool reached about 300 miles southwest of Sapporo, Japan, heading northeast. It was expected to transform into an extratropical cyclone about 270 miles northwest of Sapporo around midnight, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency.
Record-breaking deluges that hit South Korea last month have killed 15 people across the country, including a family of three who drowned in a semi-underground apartment. promised to take measures to prevent
As Hinnamnor approached, the government stressed the importance of evacuating those at risk. In five days, he sent 412 typhoon-related mobile safety alerts (including evacuation orders) to various regions.
Officials said more than 14,000 people left their homes before the storm hit as government orders to evacuate high-risk areas. About 4,500 more people were evacuated after Hinnamnoll landed, according to the Ministry of Interior.
Authorities have also closed roads and major bridges, including along the Han River, which flows through Seoul, to prevent vehicles from being submerged. Many high-speed trains and planes to Jeju have been suspended. Busan suspended public transportation on Tuesday morning.
Hinnamnor’s strength was comparable to two devastating typhoons, Rusa and Maemi, 20 years ago. In 2002, Typhoon Rusa hit South Korea, killing dozens and destroying more than one million homes. The following year, Typhoon Maemi killed more than 100 people and caused $1.6 billion in damage.
The link between tropical storms and climate change is becoming more apparent. Researchers have found that global warming is increasing the frequency of large storms. This is because warmer oceans provide more of the energy needed to fuel storms.
Although the damage caused by Hinnamnor was less severe than expected, flood expert Dr Cheong said more flood preparedness is needed, especially along the coast where South Korea’s fishing industry depends.
“We need to worry more about sea level rise,” he said. “We are going to see stronger storms that we may not be ready for yet.”