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Thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kansai International Airport after the strongest typhoon that hit Japan in 25 years flooded a runway.
Thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kansai International Airport after the strongest typhoon that hit Japan in 25 years flooded a runway.
Photo: Jiji Press / AFP / Getty Images
Thousands of passengers were stranded at the Kansai International Airport after the strongest typhoon that hit Japan in 25 years flooded a runway.
Thousands of passengers were stranded at Kansai International Airport after the strongest typhoon that hit Japan in 25 years flooded a runway.
Photo: Jiji Press / AFP / Getty Images
TOKYO – One of Japan's busiest airports remained closed indefinitely, one day after the strongest typhoon hit Japan in 25 years, toppled huge cranes, toppled cars, damaged historic shrines and caused 11 dead part of the main island of Japan.
Typhoon Jebi landed with sustained winds of 100 miles, cutting off a path of destruction in and around Osaka, as well as in nearby towns, which were most affected by the storm.
A large commercial vessel was washed away by a breakwater and shipping containers were left floating in the sea. In Kyoto, the ancient imperial capital and a popular tourist destination, wooden buildings and large orange-red entrance doors were demolished. Soaring trees fell in a shrine in Nara, another historic city.
More than 400,000 households in western and central Japan remained without electricity on Wednesday, and power companies warned that it would take time to get everyone back online. The secretary general of the cabinet, Yoshihide Suga, said that at least 11 people were killed and 470 people were injured.
Some 3,000 air passengers who spent the night at Kansai airport off the coast were able to leave on boats and buses under sunny skies. They were stranded after a tanker unmoored by the surging waves of the storm and the wind hit a bridge that is the only link from the airport to the mainland.
Officials could not say when the airport, the gateway for Asian tourists visiting Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, would reopen.
"At this point, we can not say for sure when we can reopen," said Hiroshi Nishio, a senior executive at Kansai airport.
The closure of the main airport serving one of Japan's major commercial and commercial areas has raised concerns about the potential impact on tourism and the economy.
"If Kansai Airport is unusable for a long time, it would have a definite impact on the regional economy and the Japanese economy as a whole, with the airport being a hub for business," said Akira Yoshimura, an analyst. from MUFG Bank.
Flooding at the airport largely declined on Wednesday, but air operations equipment had to be assessed for damage, as did the crushed part of the bridge. The airport was built on artificial islands in Osaka Bay.
Passengers stranded overnight seemed relieved but exhausted after a difficult night in the dark.
Hideko Senoo, a 51-year-old housewife planning a family trip to India, said the terminal was hot and dark after losing electricity and food at convenience stores was depleted.
Mari Yamaguchi is a writer at Associated Press.
