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Typhoon Nakri hits southern S. Korea

August 2, 2014
Typhoon Nakri brought huge waves to Haeundae beach in Busan, Korea. (Yonhap)

Typhoon Nakri brought huge waves to Haeundae beach in Busan, Korea. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — South Korea’s southern regions were hit hard by typhoon Nakri on Saturday, grounding flights and causing property damage.

Typhoon Nakri, positioned about 190 kilometers west-southwest of Seogwipo on the country’s southern resort island of Jeju as of noon, was traveling northward at a speed of 16 kilometers per hour, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The mid-scale typhoon, packing winds of up to 25 meters per second, dumped 868.5 millimeters of rain on Jeju’s Mount Halla as of 2 p.m., with gusts of up to 41.9 meters per second on Jeju’s coastal areas, according to the KMA.

A 55-year-old resident of Seogwipo was taken to a hospital after the wind shattered a window in his house, the central disaster management agency said.

Across the southern part of the country, there were numerous reports of destroyed buildings, broken traffic lights and fallen trees on streets. Gale force winds also briefly cut power to some 1,600 households on Jeju earlier in the day, it added.

The bad weather conditions caused the cancellation of more than 236 international and domestic flights at Jeju International Airport. Several local festivals set to be held in the southern areas were either delayed or canceled, according to the disaster agency.

As the typhoon is moving northward, the central part of the country, including the capital city of Seoul, is forecast to experience strong winds and rain on Sunday and early next week. But the typhoon is likely to get far weaker while passing along the western coast of the Korean Peninsula, the weather officials said.

“Most of the southern regions, including Jeju and South Jeolla Province, have come under an advisory of high winds and waves, and it can be extended to cover the central regions,” the KMA said in a statement.