Typhoon Hinnamnor to slam Korean Peninsula later this week

Typhoon Hinnamnor is expected to be one of the strongest tropical storms ever to hit the country, joined by strong winds and heavy rain.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the typhoon was forecast to arrive 460 kilometres southwest of Jeju Island at Monday 9 a.m. with an atmospheric pressure of 920 hectopascals at its centre and a maximum wind speed of 54 meters per second, being a top “super strong” typhoon in a four-tier system.

The typhoon is expected to weaken as it approaches the peninsula, expected to drop to the second strongest level when arriving at the waters 180 kilometres southwest of Jeju Island. However, it is expected to develop into a stronger typhoon landing 20 kilometers northwest of Busan at Tuesday 9 a.m. with an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its center and a maximum wind speed of 43 meters.

It is expected to be as strong as Typhoon Maemi in 2003, which struck the country in 2003. The typhoon disaster left 117 deaths, 13 missing and poverty damage worth over 4 trillion won ($2.9 billion).

Typhoon Hinnamnor has been travelling northward at a speed of 18 kilometres per hour over the waters northeast of Taipei, Taiwan as of Sunday. It sped up significantly from its previous speed at 11 kilometres per hour recorded the day before.

As a result of the approaching typhoon, most parts of Korea received heavy rain on Sunday, with Jeju Island seeing up to 273.5 millimetres of rain on Hallasan.

The country is expected to receive between 100 and 300 millimetres of rain between Sunday and Tuesday, with the mountainous areas of Jeju receiving more than 600 millimetres of rain.

Bracing for the typhoon, preliminary weather advisories were issued in the southern parts of Korea, including the cities of Gwangju, Busan, Daegu and Ulsan. An advisory was issued for Jeju Island a day before.

President Yoon Suk-yeol held an emergency meeting Sunday at the presidential office in Yongsan in response to the approaching typhoon. Yoon ordered the Interior Minister to fully prepare for the typhoon, including the preemptive operation of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters the day before.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has called for schools to shut down or switch to online classes in preventing safety accidents regarding the typhoon until Tuesday.

The country is expected to be under the influence of the typhoon through Wednesday.

Im Eun-byel 

The Korea Herald

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