SEOUL – The death toll from Typhoon Hinnamnor rose to 10 in South Korea, authorities said today, after the storm battered the southern coast with huge waves and heavy rain this week.
The typhoon, one of the most powerful to hit the country in decades, flooded streets and buildings as it passed through on Monday and yesterday.
In the southeastern port city of Pohang – one of the hardest-hit areas – seven bodies and two survivors were pulled out of the submerged underground parking lot of an apartment complex, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said.
The nine were trapped after they went into the parking lot to move their cars during the heavy downpours, according to local media reports.
Search and rescue operations continued today, and authorities said two people were still missing.
Hinnamnor forced more than 4,700 people to flee their homes for safety, and it destroyed around 12,000 homes and buildings.
Nearly 90,000 households lost power nationwide as the storm hit, but supply had been restored to most of them by this morning, authorities said.
Before the typhoon made landfall, South Korean authorities closed more than 600 schools nationwide as a precaution and local airlines cancelled some 250 domestic flights. – AFP, September 7, 2022
