Tyhpoon Bolaven and the Aftermath in Gwangju
This past August 19th just south of the Mariana Islands a tropical storm began to form in the Pacific. The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) would call it “Bolaven”; the equivalent Philippine agency named it “Julian.” By August 21st, it strengthened into a typhoon and began gradually heading west-northwest. Four days later it achieved a 230 kilometers per hour (145 miles per hour) peak wind speed, equivalent to a category four hurricane.
Bolaven eventually grew to the enormous size of 890 to 1,020 kilometers (550 to 630 miles) in diameter, about three times the width of Korea and roughly the size of Germany or the American state of Texas. On August 26th, it pummeled the Japanese island of Okinawa with sustained 167 kph (104 mph) winds and gusts up to 222 kph (138 mph), leaving 60,000 homes without power and dumping over 20 inches of rain, the worst storm in 50 years for Japan. It then moved towards Korea; it would be the worst storm to hit the peninsula since typhoon Rusa in August 2002, almost ten years to the day later.
By August 27th and into the 28th Bolaven, though weakening into a tropical cyclone or severe tropical storm, would swipe South Korea causing damage to hundreds of farms and buildings and killing an estimated 15 people. (The North Korean death toll is between 50-100.) With gusts still hitting over 100 mph, Bolaven first slammed Jeju-do knocking out power to 70,000 homes and killing 9 people. Then it moved to the mainland of Korea where it knocked down trees, signs, and tore apart buildings and homes. But the damage to the farms in the south would be the longest-lasting.
According to press reports, approximately 60% of the total Naju pear crop was destroyed and 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of apple and pear farms were destroyed. The prices of cabbage and lettuce rose over 70%, and 25%, respectively, in just one day. Total losses nationwide were estimated at 80 billion Won (USD $70 million).
In Gwangju, the impact of the storm was everywhere, though smaller in comparison to other areas of Korea. Power outages were short lived, many people taped their windows, and schools were closed on the 28th to minimize risks from falling glass and debris. Numerous large trees and branches fell down in 5:18 memorial park, damaging some stairways, and wind blew chunks of concrete and stone tiles off the park pagoda, causing minor structural damage. Throughout the city, signs were blown down, tent restaurants blown apart, and anything that was not tied down overnight risked being blown to Daejeon. The most dangerous areas may have been around the Sangmu district, where huge pieces of aluminum from a parking building were crashing down to the ground in an area with a lot of restaurants. But despite all this, by late afternoon the winds had calmed, city clean-up crews began hauling away debris, and people had begun cleaning up their neighborhoods.
Bolaven eventually lumbered its way toward North Korea doing more damage and causing widespread flooding before it moved into China and dissipated into a mere rain storm. North Korea was be so devastated by the typhoon and consequent flooding that it agreed in September to accept food aid from South Korea.