Five dead, 1 missing after typhoon smashes southern Korea (PHOTOS)
Taehwa Market in Ulsan is flooded after typhoon Chaba struck the region, Wednesday. The typhoon caused five deaths with one person missing, as well as property damage on Jeju Island and southern coastal areas. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
Five people are dead and one missing after typhoon Chaba ripped into Jeju Island Tuesday afternoon and battered other southern Korean regions Wednesday.
Among the dead is a man in his 60s who was swept away by floodwaters in front of an apartment in Ulsan. His body was found caught between road guardrails some 60 meters away.
An Ulsan firefighter trying to rescue people isolated by floods also died.
Two people were killed in Busan in Wednesday morning.
The big storm also wreaked havoc on Jeju Island.
A woman died about 11 a.m. when high winds swept her from the roof of a two-story house in Suyeong district.
Around the same time, a crane at a school building site in Yeongdo district collapsed on a worker and killed him. Police are investigating whether construction was forced to proceed despite typhoon warnings.
The strong winds and heavy rain from Chaba that pummeled Busan and Jeju Island on Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday caused extensive damage.
A man trying to board a vessel at Jeju port is missing after the typhoon pushed him into the water, while two sailors were rescued when a boat capsized. At the island’s Seogwipo port, a 5.7-ton fishing vessel capsized.
And eight people fled their low-rise apartments on the island after they discovered a construction crane was slowly collapsing towards them.
Submerged cars in a riverfront parking lot in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap
The heavy rain caused streams to flood, forcing dozens of tourists and citizens to evacuate and sweeping some 80 vehicles off roads. Powerful winds felled trees on the streets of Seogwipo, bringing traffic congestion.
Some 49,000 island households lost power because of the typhoon, after trees fell onto power poles.
Flights and cruises to Jeju Island have been cancelled, delaying some 6,500 passengers at Jeju Airport and halting the operation of about 20 passenger ships.
The typhoon recorded winds of 56.2 meters per second -- the worst since 2003 -- and 70 millimeters an hour of rain at Mt. Halla.
The typhoon approached the city of Ulsan, some 57 kilometers north of Busan, on Wednesday afternoon. KTX high-speed trains running on the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway were stopped, while the typhoon destroyed traffic infrastructure near Taehwa River. Hyundai Motor’s factory in the city has also halted operations. Many people evacuated their homes but floods isolated others.
A crane at a school building site in Yeongdo district in Busan collapsed on a worker and killed him after typhoon Chaba hit the city on Wednesday morning. / Yonhap
Cars are piled up at a parking lot on Jeju Island, Wednesday. / Yonhap
Part of a building’s wall collapsed in Busan, crushing a car. / Yonhap
Floodwaters flow into Hyundai Motor’s assembly line in Ulsan, Wednesday. / Yonhap
An excavator clears debris and soil from a landslide on a highway linking Tonhyoung and Daejeon, Wednesday. / Yonhap
A big tree was uprooted in front of Changwon National University, Wednesday. / Yonhap