Massive Typhoon Sanba Batters North And South Korea, Leaves One Dead, 170 Homeless

Super Typhoon Sanba lashed both North and South Korea with strong wind and rain on Monday, killing at least one person and leaving more than 170 people homeless.

The storm, which cut power to many homes and businesses in South Korea, also drenched parts of North Korea, but it did not reach the capital city of Pyongyang, which was windy on Monday, but missed the heavy rains that South Korea’s capital was subject to, reports The New York Daily News.

Typhoon Sanba, which struck South Korea around midday on Monday, was pushing to the north, and was expected to move into eastern waters late Monday. The powerful typhoon caused about 26,900 homes and shops in South Korea to lose power, according to the state-run National Emergency Management Agency.

About 330 flights and 170 ferries were also cancelled because of the storm. A 50-year-old woman was killed in a landslide in southern South Korea, while another woman was injured in another landslide. The storm struck Japan before ravaging South Korea, leaving 67,000 homes in southwestern Japan without power.

MSNBC notes that no immediate official reports came from North Korea about damage or injuries from Sanba. Another typhoon that hit last month, Bolaven, killed 59 people and left 50 missing and 26,320 homeless. Almost 127,500 acres of farmland were either flooded, buried, or washed away.

North Korea has suffered flooding and drought already this year, making the UN and other countries worried about how the country’s farms are handling the severe weather.

Typhoon Sanba is the third typhoon to his the peninsula in a short period of time, which is not unusual, accordign to the Korean Meteorological Administration.

[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/jUhMSb-r2FE” width=”640? height=”360?]