Typhoon causes heavy damage in south

A Jeju Island village fell into ruins Thursday as if it were air-raided due to the year`s No. 12 Typhoon Prapiroon. A strong wind blowing at the speed of more than 40 meters per second devastated the village.

The strong wind caused damage on the island, such as the collapse of electricity poles, power failures, smashed window panes of apartments and destruction of facilities at fish farms.

At Gagod-do port in Heuksan-myeon, Sinan-gun, South Jeolla Province, about 20 seamen were injured when 10 fishing boats, including the 42-ton class Singwang-ho, which was taking shelter at the port, were broken in the high waves.

On Jeju Island, a sudden gust smashed about 80 houses, stores and warehouses in Namwon-eup, Namjeju-gun in the morning and injured 34 villagers. Three of them were moved to Seogwipo Medical Center for treatment.

Electricity poles and street trees were uprooted, cutting off power supply and telephone communication in the region. Twelve vehicles parked in back alleys, including an 11-ton truck, were overturned or heavily damaged.

As the damage by the strong wind took place mostly in Wimi-ri, the Jeju Island disaster relief headquarters and Namjeju-gun office sent emergency teams to help rehabilitation work there. Automobile traffic was halted for about eight hours in the area.

At the same time, two street lights and five traffic signals were destroyed in Jeju City, and 18 fishing boats anchored at the inner port of Sogwipo were seriously damaged due to high waves. About 10 meters of a dike in Chuja-myeon, Bukcheju-gun was swept away, and about 100 meters of coastal roads in Taejong-eup, Namjeju-gun and a desalination facility in Chuja-myeon were flooded.

About 2,500 vessels escaped at ports and harbors on Jeju Island, and passenger ship services on six routes linking Jeju Island to other regions were suspended for a second day.

Meanwhile, a woman who was waiting for a bus at a bus stop in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla province was seriously injured when the slate of the bus stop broke down due to a strong gust at about 10:15 a.m.

In Yeonggwang-gun, South Jeolla Province, about 20 meters of a dam collapsed at about 5 a.m. and about 15 hectares of rice paddy and green onion fields were inundated. In Haenam-gun, South Jeolla, rice fell down in a 181-hectare paddy, and pear cultivators in Naju, South Jeolla, which is the nation¡¯s chief pear producing region, suffered huge damage only about 20 days from the harvest. The year`s production goal of 60,000 tons is unlikely to be achieved.

The power supply was cut off for about 5,000 households in three villages in Wando-gun, South Jeolla, at about 9 a.m. when a high-voltage cable of 23,000 kilowatts was severed. The electricity failed at about 80 households in three villages in Haenam-gun for two hours from 6 a.m. due to the collapse of an electricity pole.