The country is still recovering from intense monsoon rain last month, which left more than 40 people dead, including 14 in a flooded tunnel.
Lee Hyun-ho, a professor of atmospheric science at Kongju National University, said Khanun was the first storm to pass directly over the Korean peninsula. He said increasing sea surface temperatures had made it more powerful.
“The more the temperatures rise, the greater the energy that storms can get. So we will likely see even stronger typhoons in the future,” Lee said.
Fed by humid air from the storm, heavy rain was still battering parts of western Japan, with some areas getting well over the normal for August in the past week. One town had recorded 985mm as of Thursday morning.
Another storm, Typhoon Lan, was approaching near the Ogasawara Islands, about 1,000km south of Tokyo, late on Wednesday.
Though the storm’s path was uncertain, the Japan Meteorological Agency said it could affect the Tokyo area by the end of the weekend.
The bad weather is striking in the middle of Obon, Japan’s main summer holiday, when many people leave big cities to return to their home towns.
Source: CNA
