Typhoon Nari set to lash South Korea by Steph Ball
Typhoon Nari (translated as Falcon) is heading north towards South Korea and is expected to make landfall Sunday night, lashing it with strong winds and torrential rain. Authorities have placed south, west and east coasts of the country under a heightened typhoon alert.
While eyes were on Hurricane Humberto this week, making landfall in Texas; in the Pacific, Typhoon Nari was itself winding up. On Friday Nari was sitting northeast of Taipei, Taiwan with winds strengthening up to 150mph (240km/h).
Although it has since weakened over the weekend, it is expected to be a typhoon still when it hits South Korea. Winds early on Sunday were reported to be around 80mph (140km/h) with gusts over 100mph (167km/h).
Nari has already pounded Japans’ Okinawa islands group and earlier today, Sunday, also lashed South Koreas’ resort island of Cheju with torrential rain and winds over 100mph (167km/h).
More than 100 flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers left stranded as the typhoon hit, while as much as 500mm (20 inches) of rain poured down. Residents were warned of the possibility of landslides, power cuts and severe floods.
Parts of South Korea may find themselves facing a similar predicament when Typhoon Nari arrives.
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