Diminished Hinnamnor soaks Korea's southeast, does damage and takes lives

Social Affairs

Published: 06 Sep. 2022, 19:52 Updated: 06 Sep. 2022, 22:58

Diminished Hinnamnor soaks Korea's southeast, does damage and takes lives

An apartment building in Pohang, North Gyeongsang damaged by Typhoon Hinnamnor. The typhoon left at least three people dead, nine missing and one injured, mostly in the southeastern coastal city of Pohang. [YONHAP]

At least three people died and nine are missing after a weaker-than-expected Typhoon Hinnamnor passed through the southeast corner of Korea and over three of Korea's major cities.

Pohang, North Gyeongsang, was the hardest hit area, with two dead and eight missing, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Damage in other areas appeared to be limited, according to early reports.

By Tuesday 3 p.m., flooding of 71 residential buildings and eight commercial buildings across the nation have been reported, while four rivers overflowed. Damage at 312 public facilities and of 47 roads and bridges was confirmed. There were also eight mudslides. Some 1,320 hectares (3,262 acres) of farmland was either submerged or experienced crop loss.

Hinnamnor was the third-strongest typhoon to ever land in Korea in terms of central pressure and the eighth-strongest typhoon to hit Korea in terms of wind speeds, weather officials said.

Nearly 66,340 households lost power in the storm, and by Tuesday 3 p.m., only 45.2 percent had their electricity restored.

Sea routes, national park hiking trails and many riverside roads and parking lots remained closed, but were slowly starting to reopen.

Flights to Jeju Island and Busan, most of which had been canceled on Monday, resumed Tuesday morning after the typhoon left the country.

Soldiers help with recovery Tuesday in Haeundae District, Busan, after Typhoon Hinnamnor swept through earlier that day. [YONHAP]

Typhoon Hinnamnor landed near Geoje, South Gyeongsang, at around 4:50 a.m. on Tuesday and left the country through Ulsan at 7:10 a.m.

By the time it arrived at mainland Korea, the typhoon had wind speeds of 40 meters per second (89 miles per hour) and a central pressure of 955 hectopascals (hPa), making it a "strong" typhoon — the third-highest of the four typhoon categories designed by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

Strong winds were felt within a 400-kilometer radius, enough to impact the entire country.

According to descriptions from the KMA, a strong typhoon has enough force to derail trains and send billboards and rooftops flying, though not enough to pick up people and large stones or destroy buildings.

Compared to previous major typhoons that struck the country, South Gyeongsang police and fire authorities said they received far fewer calls asking for help.

Gyeongju experienced accumulated rainfall of 447.5 millimeters (17.6 inches) from Saturday to Tuesday at 10 a.m. During the same period, Pohang had 367.5 millimeters and Ulsan 385.5 millimeters, according to the KMA. Pohang had maximum rainfall of 104.5 millimeters per hour.

In Pohang, a woman in her 70s who was walking to an evacuation shelter with her daughter and husband at around 8 a.m. on Tuesday was washed away in a rapid current and found dead nearby about an hour later.

At an apartment complex in the same city, a 66-year-old woman tried to move her car out of the underground parking lot at around 9:45 a.m. but never came back. She was later found dead.

The entrance of an underground parking garage at an apartment complex in Pohang, where seven people went missing. [GYEONGBUK FIRE SERVICE HEADQUARTERS]

A man in Pohang whose age hasn't been disclosed went missing after apparently being washed away in a current.

Seven others went missing in Pohang after trying to move their cars out of an underground apartment parking garage.

According to Pohang officials, the seven individuals left their homes at around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday after an announcement was made through the apartment complex's intercom telling residents to move their cars out of the parking lot to prevent damage from flooding.

By 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the parking lot was still filled with water, with no signs of the missing people.

In Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, a woman in her 80s died from a mudslide at her home.

In Ulsan, an inebriated man in his 20s went missing after he and his five acquaintances dipped their feet in a river at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, just hours before the typhoon was predicted to arrive. Police said the man appeared to have been swept away in the waters.

In Siheung, Gyeonggi, a person was injured by a fallen signboard.

No casualties were reported in Seoul. Some 50 cases of mainly public property damage, such as fallen trees and signboards, were filed with police and firefighters.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN,KIM YOON-HO [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]