Typhoon Haishen downgraded to tropical storm, makes landfall in North Korea

Typhoon Haishen moved north to the Korean Peninsula after battering islands in southern Japan, killing one person there and injuring dozens of others.
September 08, 2020 | 14:34
two vietnamese interns among those missing as powerful typhoon haishen hits japan Two Vietnamese interns among those missing as powerful Typhoon Haishen hits Japan
japan and south korea on high alert as typhoon haishen takes its toll Japan and South Korea on high alert as typhoon Haishen takes its toll
super typhoon haishen predictedly record breaking hits okinawa japan sunday Super Typhoon Haishen predictedly record-breaking hits Okinawa Japan Sunday
Typhoon Haishen moved north to the Korean Peninsula after battering islands in southern Japan
Typhoon Haishen moved north to the Korean Peninsula after battering islands in southern Japan (Photo: ABC News)

According to DW, the Korea Meteorological Administration warned of "very heavy rain and very strong winds'' as the typhoon, with maximum winds of 126 kilometers (78 miles) per hour, touched down in the southeastern port city of Ulsan.

The weather agency said the typhoon was weakening and will likely be downgraded to a tropical storm within 24 hours.

The damage caused by the typhoon was less than feared, officials said, after the storm tracked farther from the coast and weakened more quickly than expected.

The Korea Meteorological Administration downgraded the system on Monday night as it made landfall near the North Korean coastal city of Hamhung.

During its period as a typhoon, it packed maximum winds of about 130 kilometres per hour as it barrelled through South Korea's southern and eastern regions, ABC Net reported.

Typhoon Haishen tremendous damages in South Korea

In South Korea, at least two people were missing — one after getting swept away by water in a drainage channel at a limestone mine in the eastern town of Samcheok and the other while trying to cross a small river on a tractor in the southeastern town of Uljin.

At least five people were hurt, including one in Busan who sustained light injuries after a car flipped over in strong winds, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said.

At least 110 homes were destroyed or flooded, while cars struggled to navigate flooded roads in Ulsan and other coastal cities such as Busan, Sokcho and Gangneung.

Emergency workers scrambled to clean up toppled trees and damaged traffic signs, buildings, port facilities and other structures.

The storm also destroyed or sank around 80 fishing boats, and caused generating turbines at two nuclear reactors in the southeastern city of Gyeongju to automatically stop. No leakage of radioactive materials was detected.

Hundreds of flights in and out of the southern island province of Jeju and across the mainland were cancelled.

Some bridges and railroad sections were shut down, thousands of fishing boats and other vessels were moved to safety, and more than 3,000 residents in the southern mainland regions were evacuated due to the possibility of landslides.

By Monday evening, power had been restored to 75,237 households that lost electricity in the southern mainland areas and Jeju.

2407 typhoon 2
(Photo: Deccan Herald)

Many Japanese injured and dead

Japanese disaster management officials in Kagoshima said a woman in her 70s died of a head injury after falling into a roadside ditch while evacuating over the weekend.

Regional officials in Miyazaki said rescue workers were looking for four people missing after a mudslide hit the mountainous village of Shiiba, on Kyushu island, earlier on Monday.

A fifth person who was rescued at the site was seriously injured.

Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said at least 38 other people were injured across the country's southwest, five of them seriously.

Japan's coast guard is still looking for about 40 crew members of a livestock ship that went missing on Wednesday last week.

Two of its 43 crew members have been rescued and one body was recovered before the search was halted because of Haishen.

The ship was transporting 5,800 cows from New Zealand to China.

Typhoon Haishen downgraded to tropical storm, makes landfall in North Korea
Photo taken Sept. 7, 2020, shows a power pole knocked down by strong winds brought by powerful Typhoon Haishen, in Saito in Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan. (Photo: Kyodo News)
Typhoon Haishen downgraded to tropical storm, makes landfall in North Korea

Photo taken Sept. 7, 2020, shows the scene of a mudslide in the village of Shiiba in Miyazaki Prefecture after Typhoon Haisen slammed southwestern Japan. Four people went missing after the mudslide struck the office of a construction firm. (Photo: Kyodo News)

Typhoon Haishen downgraded to tropical storm, makes landfall in North Korea

Photo taken Sept. 7, 2020, shows driftwood and waste near a high-speed ferry terminal in Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, after powerful Typhoon Haishen passed the region. (Photo: Kyodo News)

Typhoon Haishen downgraded to tropical storm, makes landfall in North Korea

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Sept. 7, 2020, shows the site of a mudslide in the village of Shiiba in Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, where rainfall of over 400 millimeters was recorded the previous day as Typhoon Haishen passed the region. A woman in her 60s, her son in his 30s and two Vietnamese male interns went missing after the mudslide. (Photo: Kyodo News)

Typhoon Haishen downgraded to tropical storm, makes landfall in North Korea

Broken pieces of the exterior wall of a gymnasium are seen scattered on the ground in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Sept. 7, 2020, after they were blown off by strong winds brought by powerful Typhoon Haishen (Photo: Kyodo News)

Typhoon Haishen in North Korea

North Korean TV aired video of widespread flooding in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan and nearby Tongchon, but the country's state media didn't immediately report any casualties caused by Haishen.

Leader Kim Jong Un visited typhoon-stricken areas, fired a top regional official for poor readiness, and promised to send 12,000 workers from Pyongyang to help with recovery efforts.

Typhoon Maysak, which swept through the region last week, destroyed more than 1,000 houses and inundated public buildings and farmland in North Korea.

Maysak damaged roads and buildings and left at least one person dead in South Korea.

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