Typhoon terrorizes Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- After spending two nights by candlelight, tens of thousands of South Koreans heaved shovels Monday to clear mud and debris from homes devastated by the worst typhoon to hit the country in 40 years.\nThe government's National Disaster Prevention and Counter-measures Headquarters said at least 88 people were killed and 70 missing in flash floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Rusa over the weekend.\nAuthorities were trying to confirm reports by relatives and villagers that another 29 people were swept away by floodwaters or buried in landslides.\nLocal media gave higher death tolls ranging from 132 to 182.\nBefore landing on South Korea, the typhoon brushed Okinawa, Japan, pulling two U.S. marines under waves on Friday. The missing marines were presumed dead, said Japan Coast Guard official Masayoshi Iranima on Monday.\nU.S. Marines media officer Brad Gordon said Monday that a search-and-recovery operation was under way for the marines, identified earlier as Lance Cpl. Richard Moore, 24, and Lance Cpl. Beatriz Rodriguez, 20. Their hometowns were not given.\nOkinawa, about 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo, is home to more than half the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan.\nRusa, the Malaysian word for deer, was the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea since Sarah in 1959, which left more than 840 people dead or missing.\nNorth Korea also reported "huge" damage from the typhoon but did not disclose details. Up to 23 inches of rain fell in parts of Kangwon and Hwanhae provinces over the weekend, said a report by the North's Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul.\nRusa, packing winds of up to 127 mph, dumped up to 36 inches of rain over the weekend in eastern and southern South Korea before moving out of the peninsula Sunday afternoon.\n"This is a hell on earth," said Kim Jung-ok, a 54-year-old housewife in Gangneung in eastern South Korea, shoveling mud from the living room of her flood-damaged home as she wiped away tears.\nGangneung was one of the worst hit by the typhoon. Many parts of the city of 220,000 people were swamped by waist-high floods after 36 inches of rain fell within 30 hours, the highest precipitation since weather officials began compiling records in the 1930s.\nTens of thousands of people in Gangneung and other areas spent Saturday and Sunday nights relying on candlelight due to power outages. Officials began restoring electricity and phone services Monday.\nMore than 17,000 houses and buildings in low-lying areas were submerged, forcing 27,474 residents to take shelter at public buildings and schools, officials said. Floods inundated 12,620 acres of farm land.\nRed Cross and government authorities rushed blankets, instant noodles and other relief goods to flood victims. Soldiers and police were mobilized for the effort.\nThe typhoon caused floods and landslides in vast sections of the country, destroying parts of key railways and roads.\nRail and highway traffic between Seoul and Busan, the nation's second largest city on the south coast, was partly open Monday after workers repaired damaged sections overnight.\nDomestic air service, which had been crippled over the weekend, returned to normal Monday, airport officials said. Ferry service was still suspended.