SEOUL, South Korea — The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in years hit its southern region on Tuesday, dumping a meter (3 feet) of rain, destroying roads and downing power lines, leaving 66,000 homes without power as thousands of people fled to safer ground.
Typhoon Hinnamnor swept across the resort island of Jeju and hit the mainland near the port city of Busan before blowing into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan with winds of up to 133 kilometers (82 miles) per hour. It was moving northeast on a track to affect eastern China later in the week.
South Korean authorities have put the nation on alert for potential damage from floods, landslides and tidal waves unleashed by Hinamnor just weeks after torrential rains in the area around the capital Seoul caused flooding that killed at least 14 people.
Prime Minister Han Duk-soo called for evacuations in flood-vulnerable areas, saying Hinnamnor could turn out to be “a historically strong typhoon that we have never experienced before.”
The storm dumped more than 105 centimeters (41 inches) of rain in central Jeju since Sunday, where winds peaked at 155 km/h (96 mph). The southern and eastern mainland regions were also lashed by torrential rain that toppled signs and roofs, toppled trees and power poles, and turned roads into chocolate-colored rivers.
A woman in her 70s died in the southern city of Pohang after being swept away by flash floods, while two other people were missing, including a 25-year-old man who fell into a rain-swollen stream in the nearby city of Ulsan, according to the Ministry of the Interior safety works too.
Fires were reported at a major steel plant operated by POSCO in Pohang, but it was unclear if they were caused by the storm.
The safety ministry said about 500 of the 3,400 people who were forced to evacuate had returned home as of Tuesday afternoon. At least five houses and buildings were flooded or destroyed, and dozens of roads were damaged.
More than 600 schools were closed or converted to online classes. More than 250 flights and 70 ferry services were suspended, while more than 66,000 fishing boats were evacuated to ports. By late morning, workers were able to restore power to 30,006 of the 66,341 households that lost power.
A South Korean presidential official, who spoke on condition of anonymity during a briefing, said officials were investigating the cause of the fires at the POSCO plant in Pohang, where firefighters were working to extinguish flames that damaged at least three facilities at the complex .
Lim Yoon-sook, an official from the North Gyeongsang Province Fire Department, said the flames destroyed an electrical equipment building and continued to burn through a separate office building, although workers were close to putting out a smaller fire at a coke.
In North Korea, state media reported “comprehensive efforts” to minimize damage from floods and landslides. The Korean Central News Agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un issued unspecified “detailed tasks” during cabinet meetings to improve the country’s disaster response capacity, but did not elaborate on the plans.
North Korea suffered severe damage from heavy rains and floods in 2020 that destroyed buildings, roads and crops, shocking the country’s already crippled economy.