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Typhoon Jebi, Japan's most powerful storm in 25 years, wreaks havoc

September 05, 2018 08:16 IST

A powerful typhoon has slammed into western Japan, inundating the region’s main international airport, blowing a tanker into a bridge, disrupting land and air travel and leaving thousands stranded.

Local media reported that seven people died and more than 100 others were injured when Typhoon Jebi caused violent winds in the west of the country. The storm is the strongest to hit the country in 25 years.

Take a look at the havoc the storm has wreaked.

The storm -- with giant waves and winds of up to 135 mph -- hammered the west coast as it made landfall in the latest severe weather to hit the country this summer following rains, landslides, floods and record-breaking heat that killed hundreds of people. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

Evacuation advisories have been issued for 1.19 million people in western and central Japan, with another 16,000 people issued with stronger but non-mandatory evacuation orders, the fire and disaster management agency said. Photograph: Toru Hanai/Reuters

Local media reported up to seven 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. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

WATCH: Typhoon Jebi slams into Japan

 

Winds were so severe that under-construction buildings crumpled. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

An aerial view shows a flooded runway at Kansai airport, which is built on a man-made island in a bay, after Typhoon Jebi hit the area, in Izumisano, western Japan. According to the airport operators, 5,000 were stranded at the facility. All Nippon Airways cancelled more than 320 domestic and international flights, and Japan Airlines more than 270 flights on Tuesday, affecting around 57,000 passengers in total. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

A 2,591-tonne tanker, which is sent by strong wind caused by Typhoon Jebi, crashes into a bridge connecting Kansai airport, which is built on a man-made island in a bay, to the mainland, in Izumisano, western Japan. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters
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