Typhoon Nanmadol brushes past nation's southern region

Steel towers at an outdoor golf facility on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province collapsed Monday morning under heavy winds generated by Typhoon Nanmadol. Yonhap

2 people injured, some 7,000 households experience power outages

By Ko Dong-hwan

Typhoon Nanmadol, which made landfall in southern Japan early Monday morning and pummeled the country, brushed past Korea's southern region. Heavy rain and strong winds forced schools to go online and hundreds of residents were evacuated. As of Monday night, two people were injured and over 7,000 households experienced brief power outages.

Reported damages were concentrated in Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces, as of Monday evening. Strong winds ripped off parts of houses, destroyed electric wires on street poles cutting off power for households and knocked down trees lining streets. Most of the damage stemmed from strong winds rather than rain, according to fire departments and emergency centers in the affected regions.

A fire department in North Gyeongsang Province received over 40 reports of damage from cities and counties, including Pohang, Gyeongju and Uljin. Over 800 residents of low-lying areas in Pohang, Gyeongju and Yeongdeok were evacuated from their homes before Monday noon. Heavy rain and strong winds pounded Daegu and other interior regions of the province.

Nanmadol, the 14th typhoon of the year, shifted direction towards Japan at "medium" intensity with wind speeds of between 25 and 32 meters per second. Korea was out of its area of influence by then. Interior Minister Lee Sang-min confirmed during a central disaster safety control meeting on Monday afternoon that the country was no longer under the typhoon's threat and urged public officials to check the level of damage nationwide.

Emergency workers fix a metal cover of a cargo truck after it was ripped off by a strong wind as the vehicle was crossing Ulsan Bridge on Monday morning. Courtesy of Ulsan Fire Department

"Except two injured people, there were no reported human casualties so far," Lee said at the meeting. "Thanks to our members of the public who prepared well in advance," he added.

Lee compared the damage from the latest natural disaster to those from Typhoon Hinnamnor, which slammed into southern Korea two weeks ago. Eleven people died and one went missing after the super typhoon swept through the region. The minister said recovery operations from Hannamnor were still ongoing.

The country's eastern waters off the coast of Gangwon Province were still not completely free from Nanmadol. The provincial government had evacuated over 2,800 fishing vessels on the east coast and installed extra protection against the typhoon in more 550 fish farms.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Nanmadol reached the closest point to Korea at about 10 a.m. on Monday when it was about 200 kilometers east of Busan.

Nanmadol reached 410 kilometers west of Osaka at about 11:40 a.m. on Monday while moving northeast at 20 kilometers per hour, according to the KMA. Its core pressure then reached 975 hectopascals and generated wind speeds of up to 32 meters per second.

On Monday morning, emergency rescue stations in South Gyeongsang Province and the city of Changwon received over 23 reports of damage. Strong winds had knocked down a steel tower at an outdoor golf range on Geoje Island, damaged trees in Yangsan and shattered store windows in Gimhae. Some 1,000 households in Ulsan had suffered blackouts for up to three hours. In Busan, some 155 residents in 103 households had evacuated their homes.

A pedestrian in Busan struggles to keep an umbrella upright against Nanmadol's strong winds on Monday morning. Yonhap

The damage reports started coming in as early as Sunday night, when sewage overflowed due to heavy rain in Changwon and a utility pole collapsed in Jinju, blocking a road.

Elementary, middle and high schools in Busan and Ulsan on Monday shut down all in-person classes and moved online. All daycare centers and kindergartens in the cities closed the same day.

The strong winds had temporarily paralyzed public transportation and traffic in southern coastal regions. An ocean bridge connecting Busan and Geoje Island was closed for hours early Monday morning, while another bridge in Ulsan was also closed for hours after a metal cover of a cargo truck was torn off as it was crossing the bridge.

Fifty-six cruisers on 42 routes connecting Mokpo, Wando and Goheung had suspended services, and ships connecting Ulleung Island in the East Sea to Gangneung and Mukho in Gangwon Province also remained in harbors.

Four flights connecting Ulsan and Gimpo International Airport were canceled, while trains stopping in Ulsan, Pohang and Daegu were halted until Monday afternoon.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Monday afternoon presides over a central disaster safety control meeting at Government Complex in Seoul in which damages to the country done by Typhoon Nanmadol were checked. Yonhap

Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has been overseeing the emergency situation while President Yoon Suk-yeol is on an official overseas trip, warned of severe damage to the country. Presiding over the central government's natural disaster control meeting at Government Complex in Seoul on Monday morning, Han told the attendees that the wind and rain would continue to affect parts of Korea and its surrounding waters until late Monday afternoon.

"On top of the ongoing national economic downturn, the typhoon has added another concern," Han said during the meeting. He ordered the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as well as other governmental bureaus related to the country's critical infrastructure and industrial resources to be fully prepared to repair any possible damage caused by the typhoon.

The president, who was visiting London to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at the time, talked to Han on Sunday evening. Calling Monday afternoon a "golden time" for responding to the typhoon, Yoon told Han to spare no administrative resources in keeping the public safe.

In Japan, two people were reported dead and another missing as of Monday afternoon after Nanmadol landed in Japan's southwestern region of Kyushu, bringing rain and gales. The typhoon was moving near Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in western Japan around noon on Monday, at a speed of some 20 kilometers per hour.

More than 60 people were injured amid the extreme weather, with bullet trains suspended in Kyushu on Monday and around 600 flights canceled by Japan's two main carriers, ANA and Japan Airlines, according to local media reports. Having destroyed homes and leaving households without power in Kyushu, the typhoon is expected to travel across Japan's largest island of Honshu through Tuesday, with the Japan Meteorological Agency continuing to issue warnings for strong winds, high tides and mudslides from western to northern Japan.