Typhoon leaves 600 unable to go home

According to the Central Disaster Safety Relief Headquarters, 5,242 people have been displaced with 613 yet to return home as of Thursday.

A total of 8,370 houses were flooded, most of them concentrated in North Gyeongsang Province, an area hit hard by the tropical storm. Some 1,566 cases of public infrastructure damage were reported across the nation.

An evacuation order was issued Wednesday in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, after authorities warned that a water reservoir could collapse. Some 200 residents in the area were evacuated to safer grounds.

Authorities said Typhoon Hinnamnor has left 11 dead, one missing and three injured. Eight people were killed trying to bring their vehicles out of a submerged parking lot in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. They were trapped by rising waters while attempting to move their vehicles.

A government report said a total of 7,141 hectares of farmland had been damaged. Of the total, North Gyeongsang Province reported 3,907 hectares of damaged farmland, taking up more than half of the damages.

A total of 89,743 households suffered power outages. Nearly all, 99 percent, have had power restored, the government said.

On his way to the presidential office Thursday, President Yoon Suk-yeol said the government will help those hit by the recent flooding and storm, and recounted his trip to the cities of Pohang and Gyeongju the day before.

Yoon said he "had no words of comfort to those who lost their families” but “felt solidarity and hope” in seeing volunteer workers from across the nation who pitched in for the recovery work.

After the visit to the two southern cities, Yoon designated the areas as special disaster zones, a designation that would allow the cities to receive relief funds and for the government to partly cover costs for restoration and recovery efforts.

Meanwhile, the Korea Meteorological Administration said a new tropical storm, Typhoon Muifa, has formed 1,200 kilometers southwest of Okinawa, Japan.

The storm was classified as a "medium" typhoon, the lowest in Korea's four-tier system, as of Thursday. It is expected to develop into a "strong" typhoon as it heads northwest and reaches 480 kilometers southeast of Okinawa on Saturday.

While the weather agency said it expects the storm to head to China, it added that it has to wait until at least Saturday to determine Typhoon Muifa’s possible influence over the Korean Peninsula.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)