By Kim Jae-heun
Typhoon Kong-rey has left two people dead and one missing, while displacing nearly 470, the state disaster management agency said, Sunday.
Kong-rey, the 25th tropical storm of the season, made landfall on Jeju Island on Saturday morning, bringing heavy rain and extreme winds. It also hit Busan and South Gyeongsang Province before moving away from the Korean Peninsula in the afternoon.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, a man, 66, was killed while crossing a bridge in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, while another, 83, was swept away by a strong current in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province.
A man, 76, was listed as missing after he slipped into a stream while trying to escape flooding in Pohang.
A total of 467 people from 279 households have been displaced.
Yeongdeok was affected most severely, with 418 people from 251 households displaced. Forty-nine were left homeless in Gangneung, Samcheok, Pohang, Hadong and Hapcheon.
In North Gyeongsang Province, 1,326 houses were flooded; while 660 hectares of farmland were damaged nationwide.
“Fruit trees did not bud due to the cold weather in the spring and it was dry in the summer,” said a farmer from South Chungcheong Province. “Now the wind has blown all the apples from the trees. “Autumn is the harvesting period, but it is no good now.”
In Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces, 53 roads were washed out. The typhoon also damaged breakwaters, streams, light railways, street lamps, vinyl greenhouses and fishing boats there. More than 300 trees were blown down in Busan and Ulsan.
Some 61,427 households suffered power outages in Busan and Daegu, but this has been restored in most areas. The strong wind and rain also damaged the roof of the Busan Asiad Main Stadium.
Ferries between Incheon and nearby islands were cancelled, as was the service between Deokjseokdo Island and Uldo.