Here is an update on the typhoon that will soon make landfall on South Korea:
A woman looks at high waves at a beach in Gangneung, 163 kilometers east of Seoul, on Aug. 8, 2023, as Typhoon Khanun is forecast to hit the country’s southeastern region two days later. (Yonhap)
Typhoon Khanun is expected to make landfall on South Korea’s southern coast this week and proceed northward to North Korea, putting the entire country under its influence and dumping heavy rains nationwide, the weather agency said Tuesday.
Khanun, which was moving northward from waters 300 kilometers south of Japan’s Kagoshima as of 9 a.m., is expected to reach 30 km west of the southern coastal city of Tongyeong at 9 a.m. Thursday to make landfall in South Korea, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.
The typhoon may head further north to pass South Korea by early Friday morning and reach 70 km northeast of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang at 9 a.m. Friday, the agency said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but the storm is not particularly strong with 126 kilometer per hour winds, but as we have seen earlier this summer, flooding from the rain will likely be the most deadly part of this storm.
It appears that this typhoon is not going to impact South Korea as much as previously expected, but if it does veer and hit the country, President Yoon is setting himself up for criticism if he is not here when a natural disaster hits:
After forming in the ocean off the Philippines on Sept. 13, Nanmadol developed into a typhoon the following day and started moving north with a “weak” intensity and wind speeds of between 17 m/s and 24 m/s. The intensity grew to very strong on Sunday morning.
Korea Times
President Yoon Suk-yeol told his officials to remain wary of Nanmadol as he stepped on the presidential jet Sunday morning to leave for the U.K., his first stop on a weeklong official trip.
Yoon instructed Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to prepare the country for the approaching typhoon, according to Lee Jae-myeong, the vice-spokesperson of the presidential office.
With much of the country’s essential industrial infrastructure still recovering from the impact of Hinnamnor, including a POSCO steel plant in North Gyeongsang Province, the president ordered the interior minister to “thoroughly prepare for the typhoon at all costs as the country has been under threats from back-to-back natural disasters.”
You can read more at the link.
It is going to be an upcoming week of poor weather across Japan and southern areas of South Korea:
Typhoon Nanmadol, currently passing the waters east of Japan’s Okinawa, is expected to grow stronger Saturday before coming closer to South Korea in the next couple of days, the state weather agency said.
With a central atmospheric pressure of 920 hectopascals and a maximum wind speed of 53 meters per second, this year’s 14th typhoon was passing waters 520 kilometers east of Okinawa at 9 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
Nanmadol, currently a “very strong” typhoon, was forecast to develop into a “super strong” one later in the day.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
I just don’t understand why people cannot just stay inside and wait until the storm passes. It seems every typhoon the casualty are caused by people not bunkering down inside:
Three people were found dead and eight others went missing in South Korea after Typhoon Hinnamnor passed by the southern part of the country Tuesday, authorities said.
Pohang city officials said seven people were reported to be out of contact after entering the inundated underground parking lot of an apartment building in the city at around 6:30 a.m. to remove their cars.
Rescuers are currently carrying out an operation to drain the parking garage and find those missing.
A 66-year-old woman who was unaccounted for after entering the underground parking garage of another apartment building in Pohang in the morning was found dead six hours later, the officials said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It looks like South Korea got very lucky by not getting hit by the worse of Typhoon Hinnamnor:
Super Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall on Korea’s Geoje early Tuesday morning, possibly becoming the most powerful storm ever to hit the country.
Korea Times
The typhoon, the 11th this year, made landfall at the southeastern city of Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province at 4:50 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Geoje city is made up of a number of islands, of which by far the largest is Geoje Island.
The strength of the typhoon when it hit Geoje was not immediately available, but the KMA said the typhoon was classified “very strong” when it passed through the southern island of Jeju at around midnight with an atmospheric pressure of 945 hectopascals (hPa) at its center and maximum wind speed of 45 kilometers per second.
“Hinnamnor is a very big typhoon with a radius of 400 kilometers, and can carry strong winds and heavy rainfall almost all across the country,” Han Sang-un, the chief forecaster at the KMA, told a press briefing, urging to minimize possible casualties.
You can read more at the link, but Ulleungdo is the next possible Korean location this typhoon might strike. Hopefully the cooler waters of the East Sea get this typhoon to die down a bit.
Hopefully everyone in South Korea takes this typhoon seriously, prepares, and stays in doors during its arrival. Likewise the Yoon administration has got to be fully engaged with relief efforts or the political opposition and media will “Katrina” him just months into his Presidency:
Typhoon Hinnamnor is forecast to reach waters off Jeju Island this week as a “super strong” typhoon, the strongest on a four-tier scale, the state weather agency said Sunday.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the typhoon, the 11th this year, is expected to arrive 460 kilometers south-southwest of the southern island of Jeju around 9 a.m. Monday, with an atmospheric pressure of 920 hectopascals at its center and a maximum wind speed of 54 meters per second.
Typhoons are classified into four categories, from medium to strong, very strong and super strong.
Super strong refers to typhoons with a maximum wind speed of at least 54 meters per second.
By 9 p.m. Monday, Typhoon Hinnamnor is forecast to reach waters 180 km south-southwest of Jeju as a “very strong” typhoon before moving further north to 20 km north-northwest of the southeastern port city of Busan by 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to the KMA.
The typhoon’s strength when it reaches Busan is forecast to weaken to “strong,” with an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its center and a maximum wind speed of 43 meters per second, making it the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall in South Korea.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
For people in the southern part of the Korean peninsula a massive storm is heading their way. Hopefully everyone takes proper precautions:
A super strong typhoon is approaching the Korean Peninsula, and southern parts of the country, including Jeju Island, may come under its direct influence early next week, the state weather agency said Thursday.
Typhoon Hinnamnor is believed to have passed over the sea 550 kilometers southeast of Taipei, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.
The 11th typhoon of this year is forecast to start moving northward Friday and reach the sea 430 km south-southwest of Seogwipo on Jeju Island on Monday afternoon.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This is the 10th tropical storm to hit the region this summer which is leaving Korea’s mountains and rivers extremely waterlogged:
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said Haishen temporarily disrupted power supply to 75,237 houses nationwide, with around 34 percent of them still waiting for power to return.
One person was reported missing and five others were injured as of 4:30 p.m., while 124 had to flee their homes that were destroyed. More than 2,600 have been moved to shelters as a precautionary measure.
In Samcheok, Gangwon Province, a man in his 40s was reported missing at around 11:23 a.m. He was believed to have been swept away in a flooded waterway.
Five residents and a couple in their 70s were rescued by firefighters in Yangyang and Samcheok, both in Gangwon Province, respectively.
A body of a man in his 40s, whom coast guard officials said was suffering from personal issues, was found in seas at the southeastern port city of Busan. Police are looking into whether his death is related to the typhoon.
In Ulsan where Haishen made landfall earlier in the day, the typhoon temporarily knocked out power at the assembly lines of Hyundai Motors, South Korea’s biggest carmaker by sales, which produces such models as the Genesis G90 and G80. Similar power outages were also reported at a factory of Hyundai Mobis Co., the country’s biggest auto parts maker.
In Busan, the typhoon cut off power, toppled trees and snapped a traffic light in its path.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Condolences to the friends and families of everyone tragically killed by this strong typhoon:
Ten people were killed and four others went missing as Typhoon Mitag lashed the southern and eastern regions of South Korea with heavy rain and strong winds, authorities said Thursday.
A 65-year-old female owner of a small restaurant was found dead at around 4 p.m., about seven hours after being buried in a landslide in the southeastern port city of Busan.
Fire officials in Busan said a son of an old couple was also found dead after he was buried in the landslide along with his parents at their home.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
