The most powerful typhoon ever to strike
South Korea claimed more than 100 lives and left 25,000 homeless when it
roared ashore over the weekend, leveling buildings, tossing giant cranes
and triggering widespread flooding.
Typhoon Maemi, or "cicada"
in Korean, tore into southern portions of the peninsula Friday night (Sept.
12) with record winds of 134 mph that demolished everything in its path
before heading out to sea Saturday.
Thousands of rescue workers and soldiers were searching for at least 24 people listed as missing and helping to repair downed electric and telephone poles and washed out roads. In the southern city of Masan, rescue teams tried for days to reach a dozen people trapped in the basement of a collapsed karaoke bar. Eight bodies have been found so far.
"The death toll is likely to rise further as the rescue teams still report dead bodies floating on the rivers and the oceans," Shin Sang-yong, an official at the council told Reuters.
Image Courtesy of the BBC The South Korea's main port city of Pusan is already reporting tens of millions of dollars in damages, including a massive cruise ship that tidal waves tossed onto a popular beach. Local television footage also showed giant container cranes twisted into pretzel shapes, a row of shredded seaside shops, overturned cars floating down streets turned into rivers and buckled roads and bridges, according to Reuters.
"The typhoon landed when the tide was full, causing even bigger damages," Choi Myong-sun, a fisherman, told local television. "The typhoon was so strong that our preventive steps were not useful at all."
At least 82 vessels sank amid the monstrous ocean swells and 1.4 million homes lost power when operations at five nuclear power plants halted during the typhoon. Services were scheduled for restoration on Monday.
More than 17 inches of rain fell in some parts of South Korea and flood warnings were issued across central and southern portions of the country. A government statement released Sunday said that the typhoon damaged 774 roads, 27 bridges, and submerged 43,027 acres of farmland, resulting in more than $1.4 billion in damages.
Typhoon Maemi had weakened by Sunday into a tropical depression, causing only minor damage on the island of Hokkaido as it dissipated.
South Korea is usually hit by several typhoons each summer and early fall. In September last year, Typhoon Rusa left at least 119 dead. The deadliest typhoon ever to hit South Korea was Sara, which killed 849 people in 1959.
Disclaimer
- DisasterRelief
- DisasterRelief.org is a unique partnership between the American Red Cross, IBM and CNN dedicated to providing information about disasters and their relief operations worldwide. The three-year-old website is a leading disaster news source and also serves as a conduit for those wishing to donate to disaster relief operations around the globe through the international Red Cross movement. American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. To help the victims of disaster, you may make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. The American Red Cross is dedicated to helping make families and communities safer at home and around the world. The Red Cross is a volunteer-led humanitarian organization that annually provides almost half the nation's blood supply, trains nearly 12 million people in vital life-saving skills, mobilizes relief to victims in more than 60,000 disasters nationwide, provides direct health services to 2.5 million people, assists international disaster and conflict victims in more than 20 countries, and transmits more than 1.4 million emergency messages to members of the Armed Forces and their families. If you would like information on Red Cross services and programs please contact your local Red Cross. © Copyright, The American National Red Cross. All Rights Reserved.