Typhoon Bolaven Slams South Korea Leaving 9 Dead [Video]

As Tropical Storm Isaac continued on its path towards New Orleans, a powerful typhoon lashed South Korea with strong winds and heavy rain Tuesday, killing at least nine and leaving 10 missing when two Chinese fishing vessels capsized.

Typhoon Bolaven, the strongest typhoon to hit the Korean peninsula in a decade, barreled through the country, knocking over street lights and church spires, uprooting trees, ripping signs from stores and leaving countless residents without power.

CNN reports that nearly 200,000 Korean households were without power, most of them in the south of the country. About 1,000 people in coastal areas had been advised to relocate to safe areas.

In addition to the power outages, the storm prompted the cancellation of 194 flights, the suspension of 96 ferry routes and the temporary closure of 27 roads, according to the disaster agency.

In its passage over Japan Bolaven injured five people and cut power to 75,000 households in Okinawa Monday. At the time, Bolaven’s wind strength was in the “super typhoon” category (115mph) and its size was 20 times larger than Okinawa’s length.

“Like the rest of the population we all just kind of holed up in the strong and sturdy buildings which make up Okinawa,” Storm chaser James Reynolds, who was on the northwestern coast of Japan during the storm, said Monday.

The infrastructure on Okinawa is designed to withstand violent storms.

“Everything’s made of solid concrete,” Reynolds added.

Bolaven, 15th typhoon of the year, was expected to hit the coastal area along the border between China and North Korea on Tuesday night.

CS Monitor writes that a second storm, Typhoon Tembin, was making its way up a similar path on Tuesday and was expected to hit the Korean peninsula later in the week.

More on Typhoon Bolaven in the video below: