A woman died after being swept into a rain-swollen irrigation ditch when a powerful typhoon lashed southern South Korea on Monday, bringing the number of casualties in the country to five, the government authorities said.
The 68-year-old woman was going to her rice farm to check the damage from heavy rains in Hamyang County, South Gyeongsang Province, where 199 millimeters of rain fell during the day, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.
Four others died and two went missing in the southern part of the peninsula Sunday due to the effects of the approaching typhoon.
Typhoon Ewiniar was racing northeast carrying strong winds of 30 meters per second. It was moving through South Korea's mainland and affected most of South Korea and the eastern parts of North Korea, the country's weather agency said.
"After it dumped a lot of rain in the southern provinces, the winds got stronger. As it moves northward, there will be more damage from the strong winds," said Park Kwang-ho, a weatherman from the Korea Meteorological Administration.
Nearly 300 schools in Jeolla, Gyeongsang and Jeju provinces have remained closed since the weekend. Strong winds uprooted trees and damaged electrical wires, cutting the supply of power to Baekyang Temple and nearby shops in the south.
Five people were injured in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, when a passenger bus overturned at a rice farm after it was struck by a tree branch.
A landslide occurred in Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, covering the main hall of Dorim Temple, one of the province's cultural properties. Another landslide blocked an expressway in South Gyeongsang Province. No one was reported injured.
The agency issued typhoon warnings for most parts of the country, from the southwest to the northeast. A typhoon advisory was issued at Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo and neighboring Ulleung Island in the afternoon.
The typhoon grounded over 90 international flights and scores of domestic flights linking Seoul with western and southern cities in the country, along with all vessels operating in the affected region, authorities said.
Ewiniar means "storm god" in one of the tribal languages of Micronesia
Seoul, July l0 (Yonhap News)
Five dead, two missing after Typhoon Ewiniar hits southern South Korea |
