Casualties Rise Sharply As Typhoon Hits the Peninsula

Casualties and the property damage toll continue to increase as typhoon 'Olga' pounds the southern part of the country just after torrential rain in the northern part of Kyonggi and Kangwon Province.
As of Tuesday evening, 31 people have been killed while 21 are still missing, and refugees from the floods total 19,991 with nearly 8,500 houses in dozens of towns and villages swamped.
Up to 600mm of rain fell in some locations, and more than 20,000ha of rice paddies were washed out. Fifty roads and four railways were blocked.
The seventh typhoon of the year 'Olga' pounded the southern part of the country on Tuesday morning, flooding hundreds of homes on Cheju island, 100km off the peninsula's south coast. Gale-force winds uprooted trees and flipped over dozens of cars and destroyed many houses and buildings.
Flights on four air routes between Seoul and Pusan, Mokpo, Cheju and Yosu were cancelled Tuesday and all 98 seaways that connect the peninsula and small and medium islands were also blocked owning to the storm.
Meanwhile aid workers across the nation were frustrated by limited resources. 'We are short of everything here; volunteers, foods, blankets, especially clean water,' said Chung Moon-suk of South Korea's Red Cross. The water supply for Dongduchon, one of the most disaster-struck areas, has been cut off since Sunday, he said.
In Yonchon, another hard-hit town, a section of a reservoir collapsed unleashing cascades of water.
Last year, three weeks of rain that began in August killed at least 271 people.
North Korea also reported heavy damage to crops from storms that released up to 400mm of rain over the weekend. Buildings and roads were submerged and some railway and telephone lines were cut, North Korean radio reported.
Shim Shang-bok : simsb@joongnag.co.kr