At least four people have died and five others have been injured after record rainfall triggered flooding and landslides in Japan’s Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo.
The torrential rain, described by Japan’s Meteorological Agency as being at an “unprecedented level”, brought parts of Chiba to a standstill. Also cutting electricity to more than 20,000 households and leaving about 7,000 travellers stranded overnight at Narita International Airport.
Local authorities issued their highest level five emergency warning on Thursday as the rain intensified. The alert was lowered to level four on Friday morning, but officials continued to warn residents about the risk of further flooding and landslides as heavy rain was expected to persist through the day.
Chiba recorded more than 100mm of rain per hour from Thursday afternoon, according to authorities. The rainfall was around three times the prefecture’s average for August. It also marked the highest volume of precipitation ever recorded in Japan.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the extreme rainfall was caused by warm, humid air flowing into eastern Japan and colliding with colder air above, creating highly unstable atmospheric conditions. Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai described the situation as extraordinary even by Japan’s standards. Further saying he had dealt with numerous disasters but had never experienced rainfall of this scale.
Casualties Involved
Among those who died was a woman whose car became submerged on a flooded road. Two other people collapsed in the streets and later died, according to authorities. The downpour also caused widespread disruption to transport. Several railway services remained suspended on Friday morning. Major highways were closed because of flooding and dangerous conditions.
More than 100,000 households were urged to evacuate on Thursday as the extreme weather triggered landslides, flooding and power outages. About 1,800 people spent the night inside the Chiba Prefectural Government building after being unable to return home.
Narita airport was also severely affected, with thousands of passengers stranded overnight. A spokesperson said flights were expected to operate normally on Friday, although Japan Airlines warned that some services could face delays.
Storms in Asia
The extreme weather is part of a wider spell of severe storms affecting Japan and other parts of East Asia. Japan, the Philippines and China have experienced several storms in quick succession this week. This has raised concerns about an unusually active typhoon season. Typhoon Dolphin previously brought heavy rain to Japan’s Okinawa islands, cutting power to tens of thousands of buildings, uprooting trees and disrupting flights.
China also experienced severe weather over the weekend, when authorities evacuated more than one million people ahead of Dolphin’s landfall in the country’s east. In the Philippines, authorities again closed schools and government offices in much of the north because of continuing flood risks.
Japanese authorities are continuing rescue and recovery operations in Chiba while monitoring rivers, unstable slopes and flooded areas. Officials have urged residents to remain vigilant as further heavy rain could worsen conditions.
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