Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 22, 2013

Typhoon Rusa, the 10th typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, was the most powerful to strike South Korea in 43 years. It developed on August 22 from the monsoon trough in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, then moved to the northwest, intensifying into a powerful typhoon. On August 26, the storm moved across the Amami Islands of Japan, causing two fatalities. Across Japan, the typhoon dropped torrential rainfall peaking at 902 mm (35.5 in) in Tokushima Prefecture. After weakening slightly, Rusa made landfall on Goheung, South Korea with winds of 140 km/h (85 mph). It weakened while moving through the country, dropping heavy rainfall that peaked at 897.5 mm (35.33 in) in Gangneung. A 24 hour total of 880 mm (35 in) in the city broke the record for the highest daily precipitation in the country. Over 17,000 houses were damaged, and large areas of crop fields were flooded. In South Korea, Rusa killed at least 233 people. The typhoon also dropped heavy rainfall in neighboring North Korea, leaving 26,000 people homeless and killing three. Rusa also destroyed large areas of crops in the country already affected by ongoing famine conditions. (Full article...)

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