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Another typhoon appoaches

Aug. 29, 2012 - 15:39 By Kim Young-won
Another typhoon is heading toward Korea, just as the nation recover, from one of the strongest storms it has seen in decades.

Typhoon Tembin, the 14th typhoon this year, is expected to make landfall in Korea as early as Thursday, dumping heavy rains, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. It is expected to take almost the same route across the Korean Peninsula as Typhoon Bolaven, which pounded the country’s southern and western parts on Monday and Tuesday, leaving at least 25 dead or missing.

Typhoon Tembin was heading northeast from 350 kilometers off Taiwan’s northeastern coast and is expected to reach 120 kilometers west of Seogwipo, Jeju, at around 9 a.m. on Thursday, according to the weather agency.

It formed east of the Philippines on Aug. 19, and slammed Taiwan for five days.

Three people were injured and about 15,000 people were left without power in southern Taiwan, according to local news reports.

With a radius of 200 kilometers, the typhoon was packing gusts of up to 31 meters per second and moving northeast toward the Korean Peninsula at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour.

It will bring more than 30 millimeters per hour of rain and more than 150 millimeters in southern regions, the weather agency said.

The agency also warned of possible landslides or road collapses as the land and ground have weakened due to the rains brought by Bolaven.

After sweeping across Seoul for three days, Typhoon Bolaven eased away but left scars on the nation.

The typhoon, which brought up to 748 millimeters of rain and 60 meters per second of wind in some areas, left 15 dead and 10 others missing, according to the National Disaster Information Center.

Around 98 percent of 2 million households that fell victim to blackouts have electricity restored, and work continues on the remaining 30,000 households.

About 220 people were displaced because of the storm.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)