Seoul [South Korea]: South Korea is working to recover from the damage caused by Typhoon Lingling, which hit the Korean Peninsula with heavy rains and strong winds the previous day.
Typhoon Lingling, which marked the 13th typhoon to hit the East Asian country this year, made landfall here on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring more than a dozen others, Yonhap reported.
Tens of thousands of homes suffered power outages, with nearly 300 flights being cancelled or delayed due to the fifth-strongest winds ever recorded among the typhoons that have hit the peninsula so far.
Meanwhile, damage to crops has been reported in some areas.
With most of the peninsula out of the influence of the typhoon now, the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) earlier today said it has restored the power supply in 99.7 per cent affected homes.
KEPCO said while the latest typhoon followed similar tracks of Typhoon Kompasu and Typhoon Bolaven from 2010 and 2012, respectively, the number of homes suffering power failures was significantly lower this time.
The two previous typhoons led to blackout affecting 1.68 million and 1.97 million households.
“We were able to reduce the scope of damage as KEPCO has been making efforts to reinforce related facilities,” the company said.
Around 8,000 workers are currently making efforts to fully normalise the power supply across the nation, the state-run firm said, which supplies most of South Korea’s electricity.
Flights at the country’s major airports are returning to normal. Ferry service off the country’s southern coast is also getting normalized, authorities said.
According to airline and airport officials, some 500 flights will return back to service on Sunday to transport passengers grounded at the airport.
“All passengers of flights that were cancelled by Typhoon Lingling will be transported (to their destinations) today,” a Jeju Airport official was quoted as saying.
Though most regions of the country have been out of its direct influence, some areas could witness additional rain until Monday, according to weather officials.
In addition, local government officials also urged people to take extra precaution against possible damage.