Ship Crashes Into Airport Bridge As Typhoon Jebi Reaches Japan

Japan is bracing for flooding and landslides after what could be the strongest typhoon to hit the country in a quarter of a century made landfall on Tuesday.

Evacuation advisories were issued for more than 300,000 people as the wind and rain from Typhoon Jebi began to intensify on Tuesday afternoon.

Most of those advised to leave their homes and head to 1,500 temporary shelters were in the western port city of Kobe.

The meteorological agency said in a televised warning the system could trigger violent winds, landslides and flooding in the southern and southwestern parts of the archipelago, as well as high tides, lightning and tornadoes. The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, urged residents to “evacuate early” and cancelled a planned trip to Kyushu in Japan’s south-west to oversee the government’s response.

Television footage showed waves pounding the coastline amid warnings of high tides later in the day. While the typhoon is not expected to make a direct hit on Tokyo, its path will take it over the cities of Osaka and Kyoto before it heads out to sea, according to the meteorological agency.

A tanker smashed into a bridge linking Osaka’s Kansai airport with the mainland after Typhoon Jebi made landfall.