NORTH KOREA. Seoul: On Monday, when Typhoon Hinnamnor drew closer to South Korea, the nation’s typhoon alert level was upgraded to its maximum.
As a result, flights had to be cancelled, some businesses had to suspend operations, and schools had to close.
While moving northward at a speed of 24 km/h, the typhoon pummelled the country’s southern region with a barrage of wind and rain (15 mph). Following a late-night Monday arrival in the waters around Jeju Island, Hinnamnor is predicted to make ashore early on Tuesday morning southwest of the port city of Busan.
A day after directing officials to make every effort to limit damage from the typhoon designated as “extremely strong,” President Yoon Suk-yeol declared on Monday that he would be on emergency standby.
The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) warned that the typhoon would cause “extremely strong winds and heavy rains across the country through to Tuesday, with very high waves forecast in the coastline region along with storm and tsunami.”
Hinnamnor is predicted to travel northeast toward Sapporo, Japan.
Typhoons in South Korea are divided into four categories: normal, strong, very strong, and super strong. According to the KMA, Hinnamnor is predicted to make landfall as a “very strong” typhoon. Typhoons that fall under the category can reach wind speeds of 53 m/s.
Following the warnings issued for the southern island of Jeju, warnings have been issued for the southern cities of Gwangju, Busan, Daegu, and Ulsan. On Sunday, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters raised its typhoon alert level to the highest in its four-tier system for the first time in five years.
Rain fell on Busan City and its surrounding areas throughout the weekend, and more is expected over the rest of the nation on Monday and Tuesday.
Although more than 100 individuals have been evacuated and at least 11 facilities have suffered flood damage, no fatalities have been reported as of yet.
While SK Innovation (096770. KS), owner of South Korea’s leading refiner SK Energy, said it asked carrier ships not to operate until the typhoon passes, steelmaker POSCO (005490. KS) told Reuters on Tuesday that it is considering pausing some of its production processes in the city of Pohang.
South Korean shipbuilders Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (009540. KS), Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) (042660. KS), and Samsung Heavy Industries, DSME, responded to local media reports about the planned halts of their operations. DSME said a decision to suspend its operations would be made later Monday.
According to their websites, Korean Air Lines (003490. KS) and Asiana Airlines (020560. KS) have cancelled most of their Monday flights to Jeju Island, while budget airlines like Air Seoul and Jin Air have also cancelled some flights.
Also Read: Hundreds Evacuate as Torrential Rains Cause Floods in New Zealand
