Typhoon Khanun weaker than expected

Yoon orders government to swiftly help people worst affected by the typhoon

People cross the street in Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

Typhoon Khanun was weaker than initially predicted, as it lost speed while moving north along the peninsula, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Friday.

The weather agency added that Khanun had left the country at around 6 a.m. Friday and entered North Korea, where it was heading toward the capital Pyongyang.

Typhoon advisories were lifted across the country, and the alert level was lowered from "serious" to "alert."

There were 379 reports of damage from Typhoon Khanun, which tore along the peninsula for 16 hours on Thursday and Friday.

Typhoon damage had been reported at 196 public and 183 private facilities as of Friday at 11 a.m., according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. The total includes 70 cases of damaged or flooded roads and 30 houses that had been flooded. Flooding and landslides led to the closure of 676 roads.

Most of the damage occurred at places in the southeastern region and the east coastal region -- both of which were the landing point and active path of the typhoon.

Over 40,000 households were hit by electricity outages from the storm, though 94.2 percent had power restored as of early afternoon Friday. Over 15,000 residents fled their homes in the wake of the typhoon, with only 9,741 able to return so far, the disaster headquarters added. No casualties were reported.

One person was found dead, and another went missing in Daegu on Thursday but these were considered unrelated to the typhoon.

A total of 34 schools had suffered minor damage as of Friday morning, including flooded school buildings and soil runoff. The Ministry of Education said it had dispatched personnel to conduct on-site inspections and would provide support in restoring the damaged facilities.

As the country came under Khanun’s influence, President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday ordered the government to come up with countermeasures and swiftly and efficiently help those affected by the typhoon, his office said.

“Amid the unprecedented crisis of the slow-moving typhoon that penetrated the Korean Peninsula, (Korea) was able to minimize human casualties largely due to preemptive control measures,” Yoon was quoted as saying by his spokesperson Lee Do-woon via a written briefing.

Yoon also underscored the importance of early evacuations in hazard-prone areas as more than 15,000 people were evacuated, and some 2,400 underpasses were closed in advance.

In response, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min asked for relevant government bodies and local governments’ help in aiding those who suffered from the typhoon to return to their daily lives.

As post-typhoon work, Lee said that his ministry would enhance preemptive measures that helped minimize human casualties by evacuating people and immediately responding to the situation.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)