Typhoon 'Maysak' Passed Through Busan and Ulsan Overnight... 1 Dead, 140,000 Households Without Power

Maximum instantaneous wind speed of 49 m/s topples roadside trees and utility poles, causing continuous facility damage
Shin-Kori and Kori nuclear power plants' 4 units shut down... Over 2,300 evacuees including disaster victims temporarily displaced

Typhoon No. 9 'Maysak' made landfall in Busan on the 3rd, and large and small stones were washed up on the sandy beach of Gwangalli Beach in Suyeong-gu, Busan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Typhoon No. 9 "Maysak" passed through Jeju and swept across the southern coast overnight, bringing record-breaking strong winds with maximum gusts reaching 49 m/s, resulting in fatalities. Nuclear power plants were shut down, flights and train services were suspended, and more than 120,000 households in Jeju, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam experienced power outages causing significant inconvenience.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and Busan Fire Department, at around 1:35 a.m. on the 3rd, a woman in her 60s was taping a veranda window at an apartment in Saha-gu, Busan, when the glass suddenly shattered due to strong winds, severely cutting her wrist and arm. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment but died at around 2:06 a.m. due to severe bleeding.

At around midnight, a woman in her 40s fell into Dongcheon, an urban stream in Dong-gu, Busan, and was rescued by 119 rescue workers; she is currently receiving treatment at a hospital. At 2:17 a.m., a man in his 50s was swept away by waves after entering the breakwater at Mipo Pier in Haeundae, Busan, and suffered a broken leg.

The typhoon brought winds exceeding 49 m/s in Jeju, with over 1000 mm of heavy rain in mountainous areas, causing numerous damages. Strong winds broke roadside trees, which fell onto parked cars nearby, and some utility poles were toppled. On Jangsan-ro in Haeundae-gu, a 40-meter-long steel structure collapsed onto the road, leading to a full road closure. A container used as an office was blown onto the road in front of Gangseo Sports Park, blocking traffic.

Due to the increased risk of landslides and tsunamis caused by heavy rain, approximately 1,500 households and 2,300 people temporarily evacuated to safe locations in Jeju, Busan's east coast, Changwon, Gimhae, Yeongdeok in Gyeongnam, and Yangyang in Gangwon. As of the morning of the 3rd, about 2,100 of them have not yet returned home.

At 12:59 a.m., four reactors?Shin Kori Units 1 and 2, and Kori Units 3 and 4?automatically shut down. The Kori headquarters suspects the cause of the shutdown was an external power grid issue and is investigating the details. They assured there was no radiation leakage or related impact.

Strong winds caused widespread power outages. Approximately 49,200 households in Busan and Ulsan, 40,700 in Jeju, and 21,600 in Gyeongnam, totaling 121,949 households, lost power. Among them, 83,959 households have yet to have power restored, causing significant inconvenience to residents.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, when Jeju entered the direct impact zone of Typhoon Maysak, the 9th typhoon moving northward, firefighters were extinguishing a fire at the Seogwipo City Oil Market shopping area.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Before the typhoon made landfall, strong winds led to the closure of most major bridges, including Geoga Bridge connecting Busan and Geoje, and Machang Bridge connecting Masan and Changwon. In Busan, 35 bridges and roads such as Dongseo Overpass, Gwangalli Coastal Road, Marine City 1-ro, Deokcheon Drainage Station, Sugwan Bridge, Gwangandaegyo Bridge, and Eulsukdo Bridge were also closed.

For safety, six railway lines including the Gyeongbu Line section from Dongdaegu to Busan, Donghae Line from Bujeon to Yeongdeok, and Gyeongjeon Line from Samnangjin to Jinju suspended operation of 40 trains. Flight cancellations continued, with 180 flights departing from Jeju Airport alone canceled on the 2nd, totaling 437 domestic flights canceled nationwide.

Maysak passed through the Yeongnam region and eastern cities, reaching land about 80 km south-southeast of Gangneung around 6 a.m., then moved out to the East Sea, and is expected to make landfall again in North Korea around noon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.