Typhoon Hinnamnor kills one, leaves several missing in South Korea
South Korean rescue workers rescue a man from a flooded riverside park in Ulsan on Sep 6, 2022, as Typhoon Hinnamnor hit South Korea's southern provinces. (Photo: AFP/Yonhap/Jung Yeon-je)
SEOUL: Typhoon Hinnamnor killed one person and left nine missing on Tuesday (Sep 6), before heading back to sea with few reports of major property damage.
The typhoon, one of the most powerful to bear down on the country in decades, hit the southern island of Jeju overnight before making landfall near the port city of Busan, which was battered by huge waves and heavy rain which damaged beachfront roads and shops.
As of 11am, the typhoon was travelling northeast at about 62kmh, and expected to pass about 420km west of Sapporo, Japan, at 9pm.
A 25-year-old man went missing after falling into a rain-swollen stream in Ulsan, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said.
It added that in the eastern port city of Pohang, an elderly woman in her 70s was swept away in flooding and died.
Death tolls could climb later in the day, with authorities having identified at least nine people missing as of Tuesday afternoon, including seven people at a submerged underground parking lot in Pohang.
More than 60,000 households nationwide lost power because of the typhoon.
As a precaution, authorities closed more than 600 schools nationwide, and local carriers grounded about 250 domestic flights - but service gradually resumed Tuesday as Hinnamnor headed towards Japan.
Typhoon warnings have been lifted across most parts of South Korea except in some regions, including the southern Ulsan, North Gyeongsang province and the eastern Gangwon province.
About 2,900 people are still evacuated, mostly in the southern regions.
The military has mobilised amphibious vehicles for rescue operations, the defence ministry said.
Earlier, President Yoon Suk-yeol convened response meetings and urged officials to take precautions until the typhoon is completely gone, his spokesperson said.
"Heavy rains, strong winds and a storm surge are expected until Tuesday," the weather agency said, warning against "very" high waves in the coastal areas.
A spokesperson for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering said there were no incidents at its shipyard so far, and it halted production on Tuesday morning as planned.
Shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries said it planned to resume work on Tuesday afternoon. Both shipyards were located in or near the path of the typhoon.
Steelmaker POSCO said a byproduct gas release at the company's Pohang plant in the morning was caused by a typhoon-related power outage.
Neighbouring North Korea also braced for damage from the typhoon, with leader Kim Jong Un presiding over a two-day meeting on disaster prevention work and releasing water from a dam near its border with South Korea.
South Korea has repeatedly urged the North to give notice before releasing water from the dam as it could result in flooding downstream but Pyongyang has remained unresponsive.
Kim said boosting Pyongyang's disaster response was crucial as "nothing is more precious ... than the people's life and safety", news agency KCNA reported.
Experts say North Korea is particularly vulnerable to flooding and heavy rains due to deforestation and poor irrigation.
TYPHOON OVER SEA OF JAPAN
On Tuesday morning, the typhoon was over the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea, 100km off Tsushima island, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Bringing gusts of up to 180kmh, it was moving northeast at a speed of 45kmh and was expected to bring heavy rains to western Japan on Tuesday, AFP reported.
More than 35,000 households were without power in Japan's southwestern Kyushu region, Kyushu Electricity said in a statement.
Some of Japan's bullet trains were suspended due to strong winds and rain, and many local trains also paused service, operator JR Kyushu said.
At least 120 flights departing and landing at Kyushu's airport were cancelled, public broadcaster NHK reported.
