The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall Tuesday, killing two and injuring dozens, as it battered the west of the country with violent winds and heavy rainfall.
The strong gusts ripped sheeting from rooftops, toppled trucks on
bridges and swept a tanker anchored in Osaka bay into a nearby bridge
running to the Kansai International Airport.
High waves whipped up by the storm also flooded parts of the seaside
airport, where all flights were cancelled, and the severe weather
caused power outages and travel chaos across much of the country.
Typhoon Jebi made landfall around noon local time, slamming into the
west of the country packing winds of up to 216 kilometres (135 miles)
per hour.
The fast-moving storm quickly crossed the country, and by nightfall
was on the verge of leaving land and heading out to sea from Ishikawa in
central Japan.
Local media reported two deaths in the storm, including a
71-year-old man killed in western Shiga prefecture after being trapped
under a warehouse that collapsed in strong wind.
Public broadcaster NHK said 97 people had been injured across the storm's path, none of them seriously.
In Osaka, television footage showed a large tanker that smashed into
the bridge connecting the city of Izumisano with Kansai airport, with
the top part of the ship knocking away a part of the bridge. There were
no reports of injuries.
The airport was closed after runways and parts of its basement were
flooded by high waves, a transport ministry official confirmed.
NHK also showed footage of a 100-metre (328-feet) tall ferris wheel
in Osaka turning furiously in the strong wind despite being switched
off.
"I'm surprised that the switched-off ferris wheel began to move with
the strong wind. I've never seen such a thing," a 19-year-old boy at
the scene told the public broadcaster.
Elsewhere, the winds whipped away part of the ceiling from Kyoto
station and peeled off multi-storey scaffolding attached to a building
in Osaka.
