Back-to-back typhoons leave Korea's southeastern regions in ruins

A rescue operation is underway in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, as part of the city is submerged due to Typhoon Haishen, Monday. Yonahp

Typhoon Haishen escaped off the Korean Peninsula on Monday afternoon, ripping through the country's southern and eastern regions that had been reeling from the previous tropical storm. At least two went missing.

The season's 10th typhoon pummeled South Korea with violent winds and heavy rainfall of up to 70 millimeters per hour, just days after Typhoon Maysak triggered flash floods and landslides and damaged buildings, bridges and glass windows in high-rise apartments.

Thousands of residents in low-lying areas took shelter, while flights, train services and passenger and fishing ships were all grounded. Tens of thousands temporarily lost power, and at least two people were reported missing after being swept away in flood waters.

In Gyeongju, two turbine generators at the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant stopped operation due to power outage.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said Haishen temporarily disrupted power supply to 75,237 houses nationwide and damaged 3,557 hectares of farm land.

Two people were reported missing and five others were injured as of 7:30 p.m., while 78 had to flee their homes that were destroyed. More than 3,000 have been moved to shelters as a precautionary measure.

In Samcheok, Gangwon Province, a man in his 40s was reported missing at around 11:23 a.m. He was believed to have been swept away in a flooded waterway. A resident in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, was also swept away while crossing a bridge on a tractor.

Five residents and a couple in their 70s were rescued by firefighters in Yangyang and Samcheok, both in Gangwon Province, respectively.

A body of a man in his 40s, whom coast guard officials said was suffering from personal issues, was found in seas at the southeastern port city of Busan. Police are looking into whether his death is related to the typhoon.

In Ulsan where Haishen made landfall earlier in the day, the typhoon temporarily knocked out power at the assembly lines of Hyundai Motors, South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, which produces such models as the Genesis G90 and G80. Similar power outages were also reported at a factory of Hyundai Mobis Co., the country's biggest auto parts maker.

In Busan, the typhoon cut off power, toppled trees and snapped a traffic light in its path.

A 57-year-old man in the city was rescued by firefighters early in the morning after an elevator stopped working due to a power outage. A water tank was blown off the top of a house in the western part of the city. No casualties were reported. Another man in his 60s was rescued from his house hit by a landslide. Rescuers took a driver out of his truck to safety, after his vehicle was knocked out by powerful winds on Gwangan Bridge that connects the city's Haeundae and Suyeong wards. Yet another man was seriously injured after being hit hard by a sign that was blown away.

An 18-unit apartment in Dong Ward became inundated again after experiencing floods during the July rainy season.

The typhoon unleashed torrential rains and triggered a landslide near a tunnel on the road connecting the city with Changwon. Also, dozens of riverside and oceanfront roads have been closed as a safety measure against flooding.

In Yangsan, north of Busan, a road remained closed to traffic after rainwater flowed knee-high over it.

"It is highly likely that the typhoon will weaken as it passes by the country due to the southern sea's relatively cool temperature of less than 27 C, coupled with cool air in the upper atmosphere and strong wind," a KMA official said, forecasting it to be downgraded to an extratropical cyclone within a few hours.

A typhoon alert was lifted for the southern resort island of Jeju, Gyeongsang Province, and parts of Gangwon and the central provinces.

On Monday afternoon, trains running between Busan and nearby cities began their services, and domestic flights slowly resumed operation as the typhoon moved off the Korean Peninsula. But 114 ferries and 341 flights were cancelled across the country.

Typhoon Haishen, which had moved northward into North Korea, ceased to be a typhoon by 9 p.m. as it weakened and became an extratropical cyclone on land some 100 km northeast of Hamheung, according to the KMA. (Yonhap)