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Three People Die in South Korea as Tropical Storm Lashes Seoul
2010-09-02 04:34:02.500 GMT
By Stuart Biggs
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Three people were killed after
Tropical Storm Kompasu made landfall in South Korea, lashing
Seoul with rain and strong winds that knocked out power, forced
flight cancellations and delayed the opening of school.
Kompasu, which weakened from a typhoon after crossing the
coast, passed Seoul and was over Gangwon province, east of the
South Korean capital at 9:50 a.m. local time, the Korea
Meteorological Administration said on its website.
"Four big glass windows are lying inside my living room
after the pounding from the wind all night," said Lee Soo Yong,
a 39-year-old architect who lives on the 25th floor of an
apartment building near Seoul. "I felt like I was dying this
morning as I tried to stop them blowing in with my hands. It was
so scary."
Two people were killed by falling debris south of Seoul,
the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said in a
statement. A third person died by electrocution in an incident
related to the storm in Mokpo, on the south-west of the
peninsula.
The government has more than 14,000 emergency workers
monitoring the impact of the storm, the ministry said. Debris
littered the streets of the South Korean capital.
As many as 108 flights, domestic and international, were
canceled as the storm approached land, according to the the
security ministry, including services from South Korea's two
biggest airlines Asiana Airlines Inc. and Korean Air Lines Co.
Power Failures
Incheon Port Authority said work at the port is expected to
resume this afternoon after stopping to allow vessels to dock to
avoid Kompasu.
Electric power distribution systems in Seoul and
surrounding provinces were damaged, according to Korea Electric
Power Corp. More than 1.15 million houses were without power as
of 9 a.m. today, the power distributor said in a statement. The
storm caused about 1 billion won ($845,000) of damage to the
electricity network, the statement said.
School hours for elementary and middle schools in Seoul,
Incheon and nearby areas were delayed by 2 hours today,
according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Typhoon warnings for Seoul and western provinces of South
Korea were lifted as of 10 a.m., the weather office said. They
remain in place for Gangwon province on the east coast.
Kompasu's winds slowed after the storm reached land and
they were blowing at 106 kilometers (66 miles) per hour, down
from 176 kph overnight, the administration said.
Kompasu may dump as much as 150 millimeters (6 inches) of
rain in some parts of the Korean peninsula today. The storm was
heading northeast at 23 kph and was forecast to pass over the
peninsula's west coast by 11 a.m., the administration said.
North Korea
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipyard,
said its Gunsan yard is operating as usual. Doosan Infracore
Co., South Korea's biggest maker of construction equipment, said
its plant in Incheon is operating normally.
Kompasu may dump heavy rain on North Korea, according to
the storm track on the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center
website. More than 5,000 people were rescued last month during
floods, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
Flooding is a recurring problem in North Korea due to a
deforestation program introduced by former North Korean dictator
Kim Il Sung. The conversion of hill forests and marginal land to
farmland, aimed at increasing agricultural yields, stripped the
land of its natural defense against floods, academics say.
Kompasu's winds are forecast to decrease to 83 kph by 9
p.m. today as the storm passes the coast of North Korea before
approaching northern Japan tomorrow, the U.S. typhoon center
said in an advisory.
China Storm
About 1,800 kilometers to the south, Tropical Storm
Lionrock made landfall near Xiamen on China's south coast at
about 8 a.m. local time, the U.S. center said.
The storm was packing winds of 93 kph that are forecast to
weaken as it heads inland, the center said in its final update.
Chinese authorities evacuated about 160,000 people in
Fujian province yesterday as Lionrock approached, the official
Xinhua News Agency reported. No casualties were reported and
residents were warned of landslides that may be triggered by the
storm, according to the report.
Lionrock skirted southwest Taiwan as it approached the
China coast. There were no immediate reports of damage or
casualties.
For Related News and Information:
Asia top stories: TOPA <GO>
More weather news: NI WEATHER BN <GO>
Power top page: PTOP <GO>
Maps: BMAP <GO>
Top general news: TOP GEN <GO>
--With assistance from Seonjin Cha, Seyoon Kim and Sookyung Seo
in Seoul, Janet Ong in Taipei. Editors: Aaron Sheldrick, Clyde
Russell.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-3093 or
sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Amit Prakash at +65-6212-116 or
aprakash@bloomberg.net.
