Japan begins to clean up after the typhoon, 11 dead large airport closed

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan on Wednesday began a cleanup after a massive typhoon that killed 11 people, wounded hundreds of people and blocked thousands at a flooded airport.

The Typhoon Jebi, or "swallow" in Korean, was briefly a super typhoon and was the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 25 years. It came after months of heavy rains, landslides, floods and record heats that killed hundreds of people this summer.

(For a graph on "Japan Typhoon", click on tmsnrt.rs/2N6Eudz)

About 3,000 tourists were stranded at night at Kansai Airport, in western Japan, a major hub for semiconductor exporting companies built on land reclaimed in a bay near Beijing. 39; Osaka.

But in the afternoon, many people were rescued by bus or boat from the airport, where puddles still stood on the main runway after being flooded on Tuesday.

"More than anything else, I really want to take a bath," said a woman on NHK public television.

The secretary general of the cabinet, Yoshihide Suga, said Wednesday afternoon that 470 people were injured. He was uncertain about the reopening of the airport and some roads and train lines in the affected areas were still closed, he added.

But the number of households without electricity has been halved to 530,000.

"The government will continue to do everything possible to address these issues with the utmost urgency," Suga said at a press conference earlier.

JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. of Japan (5020.T) closed at least one refinery at its Sakai refinery at 135,000 barrels a day in Osaka, due to typhoon damage to part of the cooling tower, the Ministry of Commerce said.

Many flea plants operate in the Kansai region. Toshiba Memory, the world's second-largest manufacturer of flash memory chips, was closely monitoring developments and may have to ship products from other airports if Kansai remains closed, a spokeswoman said.

She said the company did not expect a major impact because its plant in Yokkaichi, central Japan, had not been affected by the typhoon.

It took several days to a week to reopen Kansai airport based on damage, Yomiuri newspaper quoted an unidentified person in the airline industry as saying.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the winds, which in many places have reached their highest level ever recorded in Japan, have caused extensive damage, including fruits and vegetables, many of which are about to be harvested.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was criticized in July for his initially slow response to this month's devastating floods, issued updates on rescue efforts at Kansai.

Jebi's route brought him near areas of western Japan hit by July rains and floods that killed more than 200 people, but most of the damage this time seemed to come from the wind.