Japan’s strongest typhoon in 25 years kills six in mass evacuation
● At least 160 people also injured ● More than 700 flights cancelled
A powerful typhoon has slammed into western Japan, causing heavy rain to flood the region’s main international airport and strong winds to blow a tanker into a bridge.
At least six people were killed and 160 injured as the storm disrupted land and air travel and left thousands stranded.
Officials ordered more than a million people in affected areas to evacuate their homes amid warnings of high waves, flooding and mudslides.
Jebi, reportedly the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Japan since 1993, headed north across the main island of Honshu towards the Sea of Japan.
The weather system was off the northern coast of Fukui last night, with sustained winds of 78mph and gusts up to 110mph, the Japan Meteorcancelled, ological Agency said. Wind speeds were reported to have hit up to 107mph at the height of the typhoon.
A man in his 70s died after reportedly being blown to the ground from his apartment in Osaka prefecture, while a 71-year-old was killed when a storage unit collapsed on him.
High seas poured into Kansai International Airport, built on artificial islands in Osaka Bay, flooding one of its two runways, cargo storage and other facilities.
The airport was forced to shut down.
A passenger was slightly injured by shards from a window shattered by the storm.
A 2,591-ton tanker that was mooring slammed into the side of a bridge connecting the airport to the mainland, damaging the structure and making it unusable.
About 3,000 passengers were left stranded at the airport, the transport ministry said.
The tanker was also damaged, but its 11 crew members were not injured and remained on board.
More than 700 flights were
according to Japanese media tallies. High-speed bullet train services were suspended from Tokyo west to Hiroshima, although services resumed partially when the typhoon left the region.
The storm also cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes and caused schools, shops and factories to close in Osaka, Japan’s second largest city and a business centre.
More than 1.6 million households remained without power in Osaka, Kyoto and four nearby prefectures late yeskyushu
terday, according to Kansai Electric Power Co.
Daihatsu stopped production at its Kyoto and Osaka factories, while Panasonic halted work at its air conditioning and refrigerator factory in Shiga.
Major beverage maker Kirin suspended production at its brewery in Kobe.
Elsewhere in Osaka, the Universal Studios Japan theme park and US consulate were closed.
Prime minister Shinzo Abe cancelled a scheduled trip to – Japan’s southernmost main island – to oversee the government’s response to the typhoon.
In nearby Nishinomiya, in Hyogo prefecture, about 100 cars at a seaside dealership were in flames after their electrical systems were shorted out by sea water.
The typhoon first made landfall on Japan’s south-western island of Shikoku and then again near Kobe on Honshu.
Television footage showed sea water overflowing on to low-lying areas.
Tokyo escaped relatively unscathed, with intermittent squalls.
Japan’s weather agency has warned of possible landslides, flooding and violent winds, as well as high tides, lightning and tornadoes in the areas affected.
The country is regularly struck by major storms and this summer has been one of extreme weather.
In July landslides and massive floods – the worst in decades – killed more than 200 people. That weather event was followed by a record deadly heatwave.