The busy port of Busan, South Korea suffered a direct hit from Typhoon Haishen on Monday morning, just hours after it raked the Japanese island of Kyushu. Fortunately, Haishen had weakened significantly since peaking at Category Five status late last week. Still, the region saw damaging winds and serious flooding as the storm moved through.
TY #Haishen‘s eyewall and inner rainbands are currently delivering strong winds and heavy rains to western Japan, after skirting through Amami and Kagoshima early today. ⛈️
It is expected to move towards Korea within the next 12 hours.
Stay safe!
Satellite image: CyclonicWX pic.twitter.com/ahf6bGcFKi
— RA Rocksea (@RockseaWX) September 6, 2020
Haishen continues to move rapidly north today, weakening as it does. The storm will be not much more than a remnant low tonight into Tuesday as it moves through North Korea and into eastern China. However, Haishen was a much stronger storm overnight Sunday into early Monday as it passed close to Kyushu Island and slammed into southeast South Korea. Winds gusting in excess of 130 mph (210 kph) were reported in the southern Japanese Islands, along with widespread rainfall around eight inches (200 mm). Rain-prone mountainous areas saw much higher rainfall as much as 23 inches (580 mm)! The typhoon threat provoked nearly a million Japanese residents to evacuate from their homes. Hundreds of thousands were without power due to the storm as of Monday morning.
I’m in a sheltered bay surrounded by mountains watching ferocious gusts of wind raging across the water in the distance. The whole inlet is filled with confused, swirling vortices – it’s quite an incredible sight! #typhoon #haishen in Amami Oshima #Japan pic.twitter.com/WMhmFAd3dt
— James Reynolds (@EarthUncutTV) September 6, 2020
Haishen is the third typhoon in the past few weeks to strike the Korean peninsula after Bavi and Maysak. It’s the first time in nearly 75 years that three typhoons have struck the Koreas in the same season. Haishen is also the fifth named storm to strike the peninsula this season, a new record. Lead photo courtesy wikipedia contributor Stephen Wheeler.