South Korea steels itself for ‘massive’ Super Typhoon Hinnamnor: ‘we have to minimise casualties’
- South Korea’s chief forecaster said the typhoon’s 400km radius was ‘big enough to cover Seoul to Busan’, as he urged residents to remain indoors
- The typhoon, which is forecast to be even more destructive than 1959’s Typhoon Sarah, is expected to make landfall early on Tuesday morning
“We’re now entering a phase where we have to minimise casualties,” Han Sang-un, the chief forecaster at Korea Meteorological Administration, said during a briefing Monday, urging residents of southern coastal areas to remain indoors, rather than carry out maintenance to prepare for the storm’s arrival.
“It’s a massive typhoon with a 400km (248.5 miles) radius, which is big enough to cover Seoul to Busan. Most regions in Korea will experience intense rain and wind,” he said. The typhoon is likely to hit Jeju at about 1am local time on Tuesday, and southern coastal cities at about 7am, according to the administration.
Run rates of three reactors at the Kori Nuclear Power Plant were lowered to less than 30 per cent to prepare for the storm, while liquefied natural gas traders said they expected delays to some shipments to avoid the impact of the storm.
South Korea’s biggest oil refiner SK Innovation Co. suspended crude vessels from entering its Ulsan port and is working on securing backup power supply at the plant, a company spokesman said. GS Caltex Corp. evacuated ships to a safety zone, and LG Chem Ltd. is operating under an emergency response plan with strengthened safety monitoring of its plants in Yeosu and Ulsan.
State-owned Korea Electric Power Corp. was taking measures to ensure a stable supply of electricity. Subsidiary Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. lowered output at the Kori nuclear plant preemptively to guard against any abrupt disruptions if reactors are directly affected by Hinnamnor.