Typhoon Khanun hit the southern coast of South Korea on the morning of 10 August. Flooding and landslide warnings, as well as evacuation orders, had been issued to over 15,000 people prior to the storm hitting.
The Typhoon, a tropical cyclone that formed in the Pacific Ocean, battered Japan the previous week leaving behind 2 fatalities, 100 injured and thousands without power in Okinawa. As it was finally moving away from Japan travelling north-west towards China, it then unexpectedly began meandering back towards the smaller islands of Kikai, Amami and Yakushima on 8 August. The eye of the Typhoon then moved north and brushed past Kyushu in Japan before hitting South Korea's southern coast.
The intense rainfall, measured as a foot in eastern and southern areas, turned roads into chocolate coloured rivers and left one person dead. Workers managed to restore electricity relatively quickly in the 38,000 homes that experienced outages. Hundreds of freeways, streets and public parks were shut down by officials until the storm passed.
Following evacuation orders, tens of thousands of teenagers who gathered for the 25th World Scout Jamboree promptly left their campsites. This comes after a brutal heatwave also caused massive disruption to the event days before.
Typhoon Khanun had a maximum sustained wind speed of 80 mph as it travelled over from Japan. This gradually diminished to 45 mph after it made landfall in South Korea and began travelling inland. However, this weakened further as the typhoon reached major urban centers near the capital.
The name Khanun, which means Jackfruit, was contributed to the Typhoon Committee by Thailand.
