A powerful typhoon damaged buildings, flooded roads, and knocked out power to thousands of homes in South Korea on Monday after battering islands in southern Japan leaving more than 20 people were injured, an Associated Press report stated.
The Korea Meteorological Administration warned of "very heavy rain and very strong winds" as Typhoon Haishen, packing maximum winds of 126 kilometers (78) miles per hour, made landfall in the southeastern port city of Ulsan, it said.
The weather agency also said the typhoon, the third to hit the peninsula in as many weeks, was weakening and would likely be downgraded to a tropical storm within 24 hours.
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, and other structures. At least 318 flights in and out of the southern island province of Jeju and across the mainland were canceled, according to the Korea Airports Corporation. Some bridges and railroad sections were shut down, thousands of fishing boats and other vessels were moved to safety, and more than 1,600 residents in the southern mainland regions were evacuated due to the possibility of landslides and other concerns, the report said.
Workers as of Monday morning had restored power to 11,523 of the 17,620 households that had lost electricity in the southern mainland areas and Jeju.
Haishen, which means "sea god" in Chinese, plowed through Okinawa and other southern Japanese islands over the weekend. Traffic was still paralyzed in places, bullet trains were suspended and most domestic flights in and out of airports in southwestern Japan were canceled Monday, it said.
The storm by late Monday was expected to reach North Korea's northeastern region, which was battered by Typhoon Maysak last week, inflicting further pain on an economy ravaged by U.S.-led sanctions, border closures from the coronavirus pandemic, and chronic food shortages, the AP report added.
