The most powerful typhoon ever to ever hit South Korea (news - web sites) flipped over a floating hotel, twisted massive cranes, killed at least 48 people and left another 25 missing Saturday. Typhoon Maemi lashed the southeastern coast with 135-mph winds Friday night before subsiding into a tropical storm Saturday morning. Nearly 25,000 people fled to shelters as the storm dumped 17.8 inches of rain in some places, triggering landslides and floods. In Busan, the nation's second-largest city and its main port, the storm toppled 11 container-lifting cranes and mangled their steel legs and arms. Steel containers as long as 20 feet were scattered around the port. A floating hotel anchored at Busan's beach flipped over and lay on its side in shallow water. It had been evacuated before the storm. Elsewhere in Busan, a construction crane collapsed on a fire engine, injuring five firefighters. The typhoon caused a landslide early Saturday that derailed three cars of the Saemaeul Express train as it traveled from Seoul to the southern city of Andong. One person was hospitalized, while 27 others were treated for minor injuries and released. The office said at least 48 people were killed by landslides, drowning, electrocution and other causes. Another 25 people were missing. Maemi - named for a summer insect, the cicada - is "by far the most powerful typhoon since we began compiling weather records in 1904," said Yoon Seok-hwan, an official at the Korea Meteorological Administration. He said its wind speed beat the 129.6 mph record set by Typhoon Prapiroon in 2000. Seoul, the capital, lies well inland in northwestern South Korea and was relatively unaffected by the storm. Along the coast, highway road signs were uprooted and tossed onto vehicles. The few cars that ventured on the roads were buffeted by strong winds as they moved cautiously with headlights and hazard lights on. After the storm, navy divers searched flooded areas for victims, and soldiers used buckets to scoop out water from underground parking lots. Five of the nation's 18 nuclear power plants were closed because their transformers or power lines were damaged by the typhoon, the anti-disaster headquarters said. No radiation leakage was reported, it said. About 1.4 million households lost power, and 400,000 were still without electricity Saturday night. The power outage partially crippled telephone and cellular networks. Electricity was cut off or disrupted at the country's three mobile phone operators and the dominant telephone company, KT. About 20 major factories in Ulsan and Onsan cities on the southeast coast, including two major oil refineries, were forced to temporarily halt operations, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said. Prime Minister Goh Kun convened a meeting of related ministers to plan for repairing the damage. Chyung Dai-chul, chairman of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, said he will consult with the government to draft a supplemental budget to assist rehabilitation work in flood-hit areas. High swells forced ferries to stop operating, stranding thousands of people who visited their hometowns on the southern islands for the annual Chuseok holiday. Flights were disrupted as well. South Korea is usually hit by typhoons each summer and early fall. In September 2002, Typhoon Rusa killed at least 119 people. The most devastating typhoon ever to hit South Korea was Sara in 1959, which killed 849 people. Both Sara and Maemi took roughly the same route across South Korea but Sara took a heavier toll because the country was ill-prepared for the disaster at that time. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A man walks by scattered household goods after Typhoon Maemi hit Msan, south of Seoul, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2003. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Choe Byung-kil).