Nabi a category-5 typhoon

UPDATE:
Seoul had a lot of wind yesterday, but it was the southeastern coast of Korea and especially southern Japan that bore the brunt of Typhoon Nabi. Reuters reports that at least nine have died in Japan and one person in South Korea is missing.

ORIGINAL POST:
Hopefully Japanese and Korean residents will benefit from the tragedy in New Orleans and Mississippi and do whatever they can to hunker down for the category-5 typhoon that is headed toward Kyushu in southern Japan and then probably Kyongsang in southern Korea around September 6 or 7.

While Korea and Japan don't have the below-sea-level conditions that have contributed to the mass flooding in New Orleans, a powerful typhoon hitting densely populated regions in urban areas can wreak havoc and leave a path of death and destruction. There are enough river basins to cause serious flooding (I know, because my old neighborhood was flooded up to my chest when the dam upstream overflowed its banks thanks to a mid-September typhoon).

Typhoon Nabi is expected to be more powerful than Typhoon Rusa in 2002, which was the worst typhoon to date in Korea. Rusa's wind speeds were 43.7 meters per second, and Nabi's already are 48 meters per second. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Nabi's super-sized typhoon wind is influencing an area with a 550-kilometer radius and the entire peninsula will be covered.

The Administration is asking people to prepare in advance, though it's not clear if people are heeding the warnings. Hopefully Katrina will make them think twice.

Rusa resulted in 246 dead or missing and caused about $5 billion in damage. Typhoon Maemi, which hit in September 2003, resulted in 131 dead or missing and a bit over $4 billion in property damage.

Mother Nature is serious. Our prayers go out to all those effected by these horrific storms.