SEOUL, Sept. 5 (BNA) Typhoon Hinnam approached South Korea on Monday, canceling flights, suspending some business operations and closing schools, as the country raised the typhoon alert level to its highest level.
Heavy rain and strong winds hit the southern part of the country, where the cyclone is traveling north at 24 km per hour (15 mph). Hinnamor is expected to make landfall southwest of the port city of Busan early Tuesday, after reaching waters off Jeju Island later Monday, Reuters reported.
President Yoon Seok Yeol said Monday that he will be on emergency preparedness, a day after ordering authorities to make every effort to minimize damage from the typhoon classified as “extremely strong.”
“Very strong winds and heavy rain are expected across the country through Tuesday due to the typhoon, with very strong waves expected in the coastal area along with the storm and tsunami,” the Korea Meteorological Administration said.
According to the KMA forecast, Hinnamnor is heading northeast towards Sapporo, Japan.
South Korea classifies typhoons into four categories — normal, strong, very strong, and extremely strong — and Hinnamor is expected to reach the country as a “very strong” typhoon, according to the KMA. Hurricanes under this classification have wind speeds of 53 meters per second.
Warnings were issued across southern cities, including Gwangju, Busan, Daegu and Ulsan, following on the southern island of Jeju, while the central disaster control headquarters and safety measures on Sunday raised the typhoon alert level to its highest in the four levels. system, for the first time in five years.
Busan and its vicinity saw rain throughout the weekend, with more rain expected across the country for Monday and Tuesday.
No injuries were reported so far, although more than 100 people were evacuated and at least 11 facilities were damaged by the floods.
Steelmaker POSCO told Reuters it was considering suspending some production operations in the city of Pohang on Tuesday, while SK Innovation, owner of South Korea’s largest refiner SK Energy, said it had asked carrier ships not to operate until the typhoon passed.
In response to local media reports about the planned suspension of its operations, South Korean shipbuilding and marine engineering company DSME, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries said a decision to suspend their operations would be taken later on Monday.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines canceled most of their flights Monday to Jeju Island, according to their websites, while low-cost airlines such as Air Seoul and Jin Air canceled some of their flights.