Typhoon Hinnamnor returned to sea on Tuesday morning, after making landfall in South Korea with heavy rain and winds overnight. There were reports of isolated flooding, but nationwide damage appeared to be limited early Tuesday.
The storm passed over Jeju Island at midnight local time and made landfall on the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula at 4:50 a.m. before turning back out to sea around 7:10 a.m. It was downgraded to “strong” from “super strong” with the Korea Meteorological Agency saying winds of up to 96 mph. The country, excluding Incheon and Seoul, is still under heavy rain warnings.
There were no reports of deaths as of Tuesday morning. However, heavy rain and strong winds toppled trees and walls, causing flooding and power outages across South Korea. In South Gyeongsang Province, where 2,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, the fire department responded to about 200 storm-related emergencies early Tuesday morning.
Kim Sun-myeong, an employee of a convenience store in the southern city of Busan on Tuesday morning, said: “The winds were frantic and it was pouring rain, adding that another store was across the street. had to close because of the storm.
He added that the wind had calmed down and the rain stopped around 7am. City train and bus services have been restored and access to some roads has been restored. But the winds disrupted the outdoor lighting used to illuminate the sign for Mr. Kim’s shop.
On Tuesday morning, President Yoon Suk-yeol urged South Koreans not to let their guard down as the storm lingered near the east coast.
He said his government’s plan, which included sending evacuation orders via text message and closing roads, was key to limiting the storm’s impact.
This is the second major storm to hit the country within weeks. Last month, the capital Seoul witnessed the heaviest rain in decades, causing flooding that killed at least nine people. The storm damaged several subway stations and resulted in light water and power outages. Mr. Yoon promised to take measures to prevent such damage from recurring.
The Korea Meteorological Agency said most of the country will see 4 to 12 inches of rain and winds will peak at 134 miles per hour. Over the weekend, the government issued the most severe storm warning, the highest in five years.
The storms this rainy season are particularly strong, and forecasters say Hinnamnor’s force could be comparable to two destructive storms from two decades ago, Rusa and Maemi. In 2002, Storm Rusa swept across the country, leaving dozens dead and over a million homes destroyed. Next year, Typhoon Maemi killed more than 100 people and caused $1.6 billion in damage.
The terms hurricane and hurricane refer to tropical storm and applied to hurricanes depending on where they originate. Typhoons develop in the Pacific Northwest and often affect Asia. Hurricanes form in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeastern Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico.
In the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane is defined as a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 111 mph or higher and is defined as a Category 3, 4, and 5 hurricane. But in the Asia Pacific region, there is variation in how to classify storms by countries.
The link between tropical storms and climate change is become clearer. Researchers have found that warming has increased the frequency of major storms because a warmer ocean provides more energy to power them.
