Typhoon Maemi, with winds of up to 216 km/h, was the strongest typhoon to hit South Korea since records began nearly 100 years ago, officials said. Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter in schools and public buildings.

The army is helping with rescue operations and helicopters are delivering relief supplies in flooded towns and villages. Typhoon Maemi swept across the south of the country on Friday, causing landslides and extensive flooding.

Major industrial plants and nuclear power stations closed temporarily, but South Korea?s electricity supplies have now been largely restored.

In the second largest city and main port, Busan, industrial cranes weighing about 1,000 tonnes were overturned and a floating cruise ship hotel was flipped over, while 18 fishing boats were sunk around the southernmost island of Jeju. Some 25,000 people were evacuated from their homes and 1.4 million households were left without power.

Yesterday, the typhoon moved over the Sea of Japan and weakened considerably. The country?s capital, Seoul, was unaffected.