Osaka’s Kansai International Airport shut down Tuesday as the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years created storm surges that almost completely flooded the island facility and left some 3,000 people stranded. The closure forced the cancellation of some 800 flights by Wednesday, according to Japanese media reports. Meanwhile, a tanker ship collided with the main bridge linking the airport with the mainland, forcing the suspension of all ground transport to the island.
Typhoon Jebi made landfall on Shikoku, Japan’s smallest main island, early in the afternoon, then battered the city of Kobe as it skirted the western part of the island of Honshu, before moving out over the Sea of Japan in the evening.
The storm also forced the cancellation of some flights at Osaka’s Itami Airport and another island airport—Chubu Centrair International—22 miles south of Nagoya.
Opened in 1994, Kansai International serves as a hub for All Nippon Airways and its partner Nippon Cargo Airlines, Japan Airlines, FedEx, and low-fare carriers Jetstar Japan and Peach. Singapore Airlines has canceled all flights into Kansai scheduled for September 4 and 5 and has offered customers the option to rebook flights originally scheduled through September 7.