Strong typhoon hits Tokyo
8 dead, airport flooded
APOWERFUL typhoon slammed into western Japan on Tuesday, inundating the region’s main international airport and blowing a tanker into a bridge, disrupting land and air travel and leaving thousands stranded. At least eight people died and scores were injured.
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. It was off the northern coast of Fukui on Tuesday evening with sustained winds of 126 kilometres per hour (78 miles per hour) and gusts up to 180 kph (110 mph), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
TRANSPORTATION
More than 700 flights were cancelled, according to Japanese media tallies. High-speed bullet train service was suspended from Tokyo west to Hiroshima, though service partially resumed later Tuesday when the typhoon left the region.
More than 1.6 million households remained without power in Osaka, Kyoto and four nearby prefectures late Tuesday, according to Kansai Electric Power Co.
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, and forcing it to shut down, said the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 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 bridge and making it unusable, leaving about 3,000 passengers stranded at the airport, transport ministry official Mitsuo Nakao said.
The tanker was also damaged, but its 11 crew members were not injured and remained on board, according to the coast guard.