Rains and winds lash southern South Korea on Wednesday as Typhoon Hanun moves closer to the Korean peninsulawhere it is expected according to the weather forecast to hit large urban areas, according to an Associated Press report.

Dozens of flights and ferry services were canceled and tens of thousands of fishing boats tied up in ports as government officials raised concerns about possible massive damage from flooding, landslides and tidal waves.

Typhoon Hanun is expected to make landfall in southern and eastern regions of South Korea on Wednesday evening, the national weather service said. It is expected to reach the southern resort of Jeju hours later and then make landfall near the mainland port of Tongyeong on Thursday morning.

The agency says Hanun will likely cross the center of the country for several hours, with the center of the storm hitting the capital city of Seoul, with winds of 90 to 154 km/h (56 to 97 mph).

The storm is expected to drop 10 to 40cm of rain in southern and central regions and up to 60cm in mountainous eastern regions of the country by Friday.

The Korea Meteorological Agency measured Hanun at strength with maximum winds of 126 km/h at 3:10 p.m. on Wednesday (6:10 a.m. GMT) as it passed through the sea 290 km southeast of Jeju while moving north at 12 km/h.

Winds were getting stronger in Jeju as of 3 p.m., reaching a maximum speed of 86 km/h near Jeju City on the north side of the island, while 11 cm of rain fell near Seogwipo City on the south side of the island. Winds also picked up in some southern mainland areas, including the southwestern port city of Yeosu, where up to 86 km/h (53 mph) were measured.

Things were calmer in Busan, a southeastern port city, where people still walked along a beach with a moderate Songjeong wind, holding umbrellas for the rain.