Early in the afternoon on Tuesday, an oil tanker unmoored by the storm crashed into the only bridge that connects Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay to the mainland. The Coast Guard later rescued the crew members using a helicopter and patrol boats, the public broadcaster NHK said.

Early on Wednesday morning, three speedboats began rescuing some of the 3,000 people who had been stranded at the airport, which sits on a man-made island, NHK reported. Others were being transported by bus across the northern part of the damaged airport bridge to Izumisano, a city in Osaka Prefecture.

Footage on NHK’s noon broadcast on Wednesday showed long lines of stranded people waiting for buses at the airport. Officials said Thursday that the airport, Japan’s third largest, may remain closed for a week.

The storm was downgraded to a low-pressure system on Wednesday as it moved away from the Japanese archipelago, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Bullet trains in the area resumed full service after being suspended a day earlier.