On Tuesday, thousands were forced to evacuate in South Korea as Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall in the country’s southern regions. The fierce rains and winds also left more than 20,000 homes without power.
Government officials have put the nation on alert about potential damages from flooding, landslides, and tidal waves unleashed by Hinnamnor, which they said would be the most powerful storm to hit the country in years.
Source: Bloomberg ( (Son Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP)
The storm has arrived just weeks after the capital Seoul and nearby regions were battered by heavy rainfall that unleashed flash floods and killed at least 14 people. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo had called for proactive efforts to evacuate residents in areas vulnerable to flooding, saying that Hinnamnor could end up being a “historically strong typhoon that we never experienced before.”
On Tuesday, a 25-year-old man went missing after falling into a rain-swollen stream in the southern city of Ulsan, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which didn’t immediately report more casualties.
The storm dumped more than 37 inches of rain in the central part of Jeju since Sunday, where winds once reached a maximum speed of 96 mph.
The Safety Ministry said more than 3,400 people in the southern regions were forced to evacuate from their homes because of safety concerns and that officials were advising or ordering 14,000 more people to evacuate. At least five homes and buildings were flooded or destroyed, and scores of roads were damaged. More than 600 schools nationwide were closed or converted to online classes.
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