Over 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes as a precaution, while hundreds of flights and train services were canceled today in Busan, a city in the southern part of South Korea, due to typhoon Hanun.

Accompanied by heavy rains and violent winds, the storm swept across Japan before moving towards the southern part of the Korean peninsula, arriving there around 9:20 a.m. (local time, 03:20 a.m. Greece time).

It will then move to the northern part of the peninsula, as announced by the South Korean Meteorological Service.

According to Yonhap news agency, there were no reports of casualties as of this afternoon (local time).

Prime Minister Han Duk-soo called on local authorities to ensure the evacuation of all residents from high-risk areas. South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior, for its part, called on residents to “avoid travel until the end of the typhoon.”

Hurricane warnings were issued across the country. By Friday morning, rainfall of up to 500 mm is expected in coastal areas in the northeast and 100 to 200 mm in Seoul and surrounding areas.

The coastal city of Busan was hit by violent winds, with gusts reaching 145 km/h. Many shops and cafes were closed. Heavy rains hit the capital Seoul.

At least 330 flights have been canceled to date while sea and rail services have been disrupted, according to authorities.

According to the Ministry of Education, more than 1,500 kindergartens and schools have closed, postponed classes or proceeded to remote education.

Tens of thousands of people participating in a global gathering of scouts in the southern part of the country had been evacuated as a precaution since Tuesday. Participants in the World Scout Jamboree had already faced a heat wave last week.

More than 40 people died due to floods and landslides in mid-July, in the middle of the summer monsoon season.

In 2022, South Korea recorded record rains and floods that claimed the lives of 11 people.

The government said at the time that this was the highest level of rainfall since the first statistics began to be collected 115 years ago, attributing the development to climate change.

In Japan, the storm prompted some areas in the southern Miyazaki prefecture to declare the highest level of alert overnight, urging residents to “take shelter immediately” as there was a risk of landslides.

Evacuation notices were also issued in parts of Ehime, Kochi and Oita (southwest) regions, according to public broadcaster NHK.
This morning, more than 10,000 households on the southernmost island of Kyushu remained without electricity.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways they canceled almost 80 flights in total for today, as representatives of the companies told AFP.