The Rusa typhoon that hit our area last week was the worst typhoon that anyone here can remember (and worse since 1959 according to the news reports). It's sort of been predicted because of the changes in South Korea due to climate change. Another example is that the amount of Malaria in the country has very recently increased because mosquitos thrive now that it's hotter and more humid.
Over the area, predictions have risen to a death toll of 200 and the amount of damage done to roads, bridges, windows and houses near to rivers was quite drastic.
Our apartment was absolutely fine as we have a kind of triple glazing that slides sideways so it couldn't rattle too much but there was no chance of sleeping through it. Some of my students windows were blown in around the early hours of the morning as everyone lives in high rise blocks but we don't know anyone that was hurt. Friends in Seoul slept in their basements. The river in Hongseong burst it's banks and flooded the adjacent carpark which contained cars and a tractor. Trees and traffic lights were flattened.
In true tenacious and resilent Korean style, there is now no trace that there was ever any bad weather. But check out how Seoul looked on the 2nd of September:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/22230215.stm
The reaction to this natural disaster has been heartfelt community spirit and everyone pulling together. I came down in the morning to find someone from our street cleaning up other peoples spilt rubbish quite happily, for example. The schools were very concerned for us and made us feel so welcome with their genuine enquiries. It has given us such a good impression of Hongseong.
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