South Korea braces for strong winds and rain as tropical storm Jongdari nears

SEOUL, South Korea -- Tropical storm Jongdari weakened as it moved closer to South Korea’s coast on Tuesday, pelting the country’s southern regions with heavy rain and wind.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jongdari was 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the western island of Heuksan and headed north at 37 kph (23 mph). It was packing maximum sustained winds of 54 kph (33.5 mph) and was expected to make landfall Wednesday morning.

The storm isn’t expected to bring damaging winds as it passes through the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area on Wednesday. Government officials still urged public vigilance, including securing objects and vessels and monitoring high-risk areas, including underground passageways and basement dwellings, for floods.

The storm dumped around 60 to 130 mm (2.3 to 5.1 inches) of rain in some parts of the southern island of Jeju and southern mainland areas. Officials shut down dozens of parks, bridges and roads while more than 100 domestic flights were reportedly delayed.

There were no reports of injuries.