Typhoon Maemi had downgraded from Super Typhoon status by the time it
hit the Korean peninsula on Friday, but it was still the strongest
blow to hit the place in a hundred years according to AAP news
reports hitting the news outlets around here today (Sunday 14 Sep 03).

quoting
AP - The most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in a century tore
through the country's coastal regions, flipping over a cruise ship,
twisting massive cranes, hurling shipping containers and leaving at
least 62 people dead, officials said.

With winds of up to 216kph - the strongest since the country began
keeping records nearly 100 years ago - typhoon Maemi hit the
south-eastern coast before exiting as a weak tropical storm, the
anti-disaster office said.

By then it had dumped 45cm of rain in several places, flooding
farmlands, cities and rivers, and triggering landslides, the National
Disaster Prevention and Countermeasures Headquarters said. It said
more than 24,900 people sought shelter at nearby schools and public
facilities.

Maemi - Korean for cicada - is "by far the most powerful typhoon since
we began compiling weather records in 1904," said Yoon Seok-hwan, an
official at the Korea Meteorological Administration.
[...]
Five of the nation's 18 nuclear power plants were closed because their
main current transformers or power lines were damaged by the typhoon,
the anti-disaster headquarters said. No radiation leakage was
reported, the NDPCH said.

About 20 major factories in Ulsan and Onsan on the south-east coast,
including two major oil refineries, were forced to temporarily halt
operations, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.
[...]
South Korea is usually hit by several typhoons each summer and early
fall. In September last year, Typhoon Rusa left at least 119 dead.

Until Maemi, the most powerful typhoon in South Korea was Prapiroon in
2000, which carried wind speeds of up to 210kph. The most devastating
typhoon ever to hit South Korea was Sara in 1959, which killed 849
people.
/quoting (enough said ;-)

That said, is there *really* much difference between a 210 km/h
typhoon and one of 216 km/h? But I suppose a record is a record.


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID