Prapiroon hits peninsula tonight; veers toward East Sea tomorrow

The Typhoon Prapiroon, which is racing through the West Sea, is likely to hit the central part of the Korean peninsula Thursday and veer toward the East Sea Friday. Due to the influence of the 12th typhoon and accompanying strong winds with a velocity of 20 to 40 meters per second, many houses and ships were destroyed in the Jeju and Honam areas. In addition, one person was killed and 50 others injured as a result of the storm. Around 3 p.m. on Thursday, Ra Seung-Woo, a resident of Gochang county, Jeollabuk-do, was hit by an iron gate thrown by a gust of wind and was rushed to the hospital, but died soon after.

In southern Jeju, electric poles and trees were destroyed due to storms, resulting in power outages and the disconnection of telecommunications. In the Honam area, farmland was inundated and agricultural products such as fruit were damaged by the strong winds. From this morning, with a storm warning posted at Jeju International Airport, flight 1204, scheduled to leave Jeju for Seoul at 8:50 a.m., was cancelled, and all other flights were suspended until 4 p.m. Meanwhile, five schools, including Jeju Dong Middle School, were temporarily closed.

The Korea Metrological Administration (KMA) forecast that up to 180 millimeters of rain will fall across the country through Friday. The weather bureau also said that the typhoon registers 965 hectopascals of atmospheric pressure at its center and has a maximum velocity of 36 meters per second. It added that the current typhoon is much stronger than the previous 4th and sixth typhoons that rocked the nation this summer.

Earlier, the KMA posted a storm warning for most parts of the country, and asked people to batten down hatches. The weathermen disclosed that the influence of the current typhoon will decline gradually from late Friday afternoon. There will be clear skies on Saturday, they forecast.

Under the influence of the raging typhoon, as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, 98.5 millimeters of rain fell in Haenam, Jeollanam-do, 96.7 millimeters in Jeju-do, 76.5 millimeters in Suncheon, 76.5 millimeters in Heuksan-do, 69.5 millimeters in Sancheong, Gyeongbuk, 62.5 millimeters in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, 12.9 millimeters in Gangneung, 11.0 millimeters in Ganghwa and 6.1 millimeters in Seoul.