Typhoon batters S. Korea, preparations minimize casualties

by · The Columbian
Waves crash over the breakwater in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate in South Korea as Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall in the country's southern regions on Tuesday, unleashing fierce rains and winds that destroyed trees and roads, and left more than 20,000 homes without power. (Sohn Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP)
Waves hit a shore in Ulsan, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years battered its southern region Tuesday, dumping almost a meter (3 feet) of rain, destroying roads and felling power lines, leaving 20,000 homes without electricity as thousands of people fled to safer ground. (Kim Yong-tai/Yonhap via AP)
A road is damaged as waves hit a shore in Ulsan, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years battered its southern region Tuesday, dumping almost a meter (3 feet) of rain, destroying roads and felling power lines, leaving 20,000 homes without electricity as thousands of people fled to safer ground. (Kim Yong-tai/Yonhap via AP)
Waves hit a shore in Pohang, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate in South Korea as Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall in the country's southern regions on Tuesday, unleashing fierce rains and winds that destroyed trees and roads, and left more than 20,000 homes without power. (Kim Hyun-tai/Yonhap via AP)
Debris caused by Typhoon Hinnamnor are seen at a waterfront park in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years battered its southern region Tuesday, dumping almost a meter (3 feet) of rain, destroying roads and felling power lines, leaving 20,000 homes without electricity as thousands of people fled to safer ground.(Sohn Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea — The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years killed at least three people, dumped a meter (3 feet) of rain, destroyed roads and felled power lines on Tuesday. The death toll could have been higher if not for proactive evacuations and school closures, officials said.

There was also greater public awareness about the storm and its risks. Typhoon Hinnamnor made impact just weeks after heavy rain around the capital, Seoul, caused flooding that killed at least 14 people.

Government officials put the nation on high alert for days as Hinnamnor approached, warning of potentially historic destruction and putting in motion life-saving measures.

After grazing the resort island of Jeju and hitting the mainland near the port city of Busan, Hinnamnor weakened as it blew into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

South Korea’s weather agency said Hinnamnor was over the open sea 280 kilometers (173 miles) northeast of Ulleung island with winds weakened to 115 kilometers (71 miles) per hour on Tuesday afternoon. It was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by night as it moves northeast between Russia and the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the agency said.

However, the damage was still severe in the southern city of Pohang, where two people were found dead and at least seven others were missing after the storm submerged roads and buildings, triggered landslides and flooded a shopping mall.

Cars with smashed windows and trunks open lay scattered on roads like garbage. An entire two-story pool villa was uprooted from the ground and swept away by flash floods. Troops were deployed to assist with rescue and restoration efforts, moving in armored vehicles through streets turned into chocolate-colored rivers.

Firefighters navigated flooded neighborhoods in rubber boats, rescuing people and their pets. Merchants scrambled to salvage furniture and other belongings at the famous Guryongpo outdoor market, where workers deployed excavators to clear huge piles of debris.

The rain and flooding eroded the foundations of bridges and motorways, which were often broken in chunks or blocked by fallen trees and electricity poles. Factory buildings were tilted, while a shipping container blew away and landed above cars in a parking lot.

“I woke up at 5 a.m. at because of the explosive rain, and I got really concerned because the water rose right up to my doorway,” Kim Seong-chang, a Pohang resident, said in an interview with JTBC. “The water was still thigh-high at 7 a.m. and those who parked their cars in the streets were in panic because their vehicles were submerged. … Other residents were bucketing out water from their homes.”

The storm dumped more than 105 centimeters (41 inches) of rain in central Jeju since Sunday, where winds peaked at 155 kph (96 mph). Southern and eastern mainland regions also had damage — knocked-off signboards and roofing, toppled trees and traffic signs, and destroyed roads.

In Pohang, a woman in her 70s died after being swept away in flash floods, while another woman in her 60s was found dead in a submerged basement parking lot, where the search was continuing for five people.

Wading in the parking lot’s neck-high waters with ropes tied to their bodies, emergency workers on Tuesday night managed to pull out two people who had been trapped. President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a congratulatory message after the first survivor’s rescue, calling it a “miracle.”

Rescue workers failed to recover another man who called for help before he went missing, presumably swept away by flash floods.

In the neighboring city of Gyeongju, a woman in her 80s died after her home was buried in a landslide. In Ulsan, another southern city, a 25-year-old man was unaccounted for after falling into a rain-swollen stream, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.