Typhoon Kompasu

Pre-Landfall 3 | Summary
Posting Date: September 2, 2010, 5:25:00 PM

Early Thursday morning local time, Typhoon Kompasu made landfall on Ganghwa Island, about 70 kilometers west of Seoul, South Korea’s capital and largest city, as a weak Category 1 storm (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) with maximum sustained winds of 128 kilometers per hour. It reached the Seoul metropolitan area not long after at tropical storm strength, halting rail and subway travel, and forcing the cancelation of dozens of domestic and international flights—including services from South Korea’s two biggest airlines. Strong winds also damaged power distribution systems in Seoul and surrounding provinces, cutting off electricity to 1.56 million homes. Kompasu was the strongest typhoon to impact the Seoul area in fifteen years. AIR estimates that the total replacement value of residential and commercial/industrial properties in the Seoul metropolitan area exceeds USD 940 billion. Residential construction is dominated by masonry construction in the case of single family homes, and by reinforced concrete in the case of apartment buildings. The mix of commercial construction is more uniform, though the major share is either reinforced concrete or steel construction. According to the 12:50 am (15:50 UTC) Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) advisory today, Typhoon Kompasu has maximum sustained winds of 74 kilometers per hour with higher gusts, which now classifies it as a tropical storm. It has crossed the Korean peninsula and is again out to sea, heading toward Japan. It is currently undergoing extratropical transitioning and should approach northern Japan sometime tomorrow, crossing Hokkaido sometime during the day on Saturday. It is not expected to reintensify significantly, if at all. Prior to landfall yesterday, Kompasu was a strong Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h. Due to interaction with an upper level trough, however, it weakened significantly before landfall. Still, the storm brought powerful gusts—up to 29.5 meters per second, or 106 km/h—to Seoul. Today, construction debris and toppled trees are scattered on streets in the capital. One report indicated that 1,333 trees, telephone poles, and signboards had been felled altogether. Most public schools in Seoul remain closed. In the coastal city of Incheon, to Seoul’s west, officials at the Incheon Munhak World Cup Stadium reported that Kompasu caused about at least 10 billion won ($8.3 million)in damage to the stadium roof. Fortunately, over 90 percent of the houses that lost electricity during the storm have had their power restored, according to the Korea Electric Power Corporation. Earlier in the week, on Tuesday evening, Kompasu struck the Japanese island of Okinawa, disrupting power to more than 17,000 homes, damaging roofs in several towns, closing the operation of an oil refinery, and cancelling more than 400 flights. Typhoon warnings have now been lifted for Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and South Chungcheong Province. In coastal zones, however, storm warnings remain in effect, and near the capital, Kompasu’s remnants are expected to generate up to 80 millimeters of precipitation today and tomorrow, according to the state-run Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). So far, Kompasu has delivered nearly 40 millimeters of rain to the capital. Since other weather systems have already dropped more than 100 millimeters of rain in the Seoul metropolitan area within the past few days, some flooding is likely. Meanwhile, the sixth storm of the season, Typhoon Lionrock, skirted Taiwan and made landfall near Xiamen on China’s south coast at about 8 a.m. local time today. Nearly 160,000 people in Fujian Province were evacuated in advance of its arrival. Lionrock came ashore with 93 kilometer per hour winds; it is forecast to weaken today, but continues to bring heavy rain to Dongshan and Zhangpu counties. Today and tomorrow, rainfall amounts could reach 200 millimeters. Local authorities warn this heavy precipitation may trigger landslides. The AIR tropical cyclone team is continuing to monitor all developments in the Northwest Pacific and will provide updates as warranted by events.

Pre-Landfall 3 | Downloads
Posting Date: September 2, 2010, 5:25:00 PM