Typhoon Bavi passes through S. Korea causing minimal damage

태풍 바비 수도권은 피해 크지 않지만 남부 및 제주는 피해

Typhoon Bavi passed through the Korean Peninsula, but it was much weaker than anticipated.
The island of Jeju-do suffered the most damage, but the greater Seoul area was relatively unaffected by what was supposed to be one of the worst typhoons ever to hit the country.
Our Kim Do-yeon reports.
Typhoon Bavi reached the Greater Seoul area early Thursday morning as residents braced for the worst, but the damage was not as bad as expected.
There were only a few cases of property damage in the area and power outages in certain districts.
The Seoul region was well enough prepared that the places most at risk were relatively safe.
A fisherman at a port in Incheon, west of Seoul, says that, like the others, he was ready for the worst.
"I was on watch duty here from yesterday at 3 PM, but whether the storm was weak or strong, it was far away, so we didn't take a lot of damage."
"The typhoon warning for the greater capital area was downgraded to a strong wind warning as of 9 AM Thursday."
On the other hand, its impact was much greater hours earlier when it first reached the Korean mainland.
In Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Province, signboards and street lights were blown off their posts.
Around a hundred other cases of damage were reported overnight as well.
In Gwangju, thousands of homes lost power.
The hardest hit was Jeju, South Korea's southernmost island, which was first to be hit.
The outer wall of an apartment building was ripped off, and it damaged a car parked nearby.
Traffic lights and CCTV cameras were also knocked down by winds of over 108 kilometers an hour.
One of Jeju's four main rivers almost reached its two-meter flood level, forcing nearby residents to leave their homes.
"The wind was really strong, and the water level rose so rapidly that the evacuation process was challenging."
Thankfully, there are no reports of any casualties.
The storm crossed into North Korea, passing over Pyeongyang and then dissipating around Harbin, China.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News, Incheon.