The powerful Typhoon Haishen on Monday made a landfall in South Korea after battering Japan’s coast in the southern islands, BBC reported. The storm made landfall in Ulsan, just north of Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city.
Nearly 1,000 people have been evacuated, while more than 300 flights across 10 airports, including Jeju International Airport, have been cancelled, Reuters quoted the country’s safety ministry as saying. Entries to national parks and some national train services have been suspended.
Strong winds also snapped power to almost 5,000 households in the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. Power cut was also reported in the country’s resort island of Jeju, which has recorded more than 473 mm, or 19 inches of rainfall since Saturday.
Two nuclear reactors in the city of Gyeongju, around 375 km southeast of Seoul were shut down, Reuters quoted South Korea’s Yonhap news agency as saying.
In Japan, nearly eight million people were asked to evacuate regions that fall in the path of the storm.
The typhoon also caused loss of power across hundreds of thousands of homes in Japan.
As many as 32 people were injured after the glass windows of an evacuation centre in Kyushu region were blown in, state broadcaster NHK reported. This included a woman, who fell down a flight of stairs in the dark, and four people who sustained cuts from broken glass.
Typhoon Haishen comes days after Typhoon Maysak, one of the region’s strongest storms in years, slammed into the Korean peninsula and Japan last week. At least two people had died in the storm and thousands were left without power. Japan is also still recovering from heavy rains and flooding in July that killed 83 people.
Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday met the relevant cabinet ministers to discuss the emergency response to the typhoon, Al Jazeera reported. “Maximum caution is needed as record rain, violent winds, high waves and high tides are possible,” he said. “I ask the Japanese people, including those who live in high-risk areas for flooding rivers or high tides to stay informed and take action immediately to ensure their safety.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!