Record rains kill four in Japan’s Chiba prefecture

Record rainfall battered Japan’s Chiba prefecture east of Tokyo, killing at least four people, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and stranding thousands of travelers during one of the country’s busiest holiday weeks.

Authorities described the downpour as “unprecedented” after parts of Chiba recorded more than 100 millimeters of rain per hour from Thursday afternoon. Al Jazeera reported that some areas received more than 360 millimeters in the 24 hours into Friday, flooding roads, rail lines and homes during the Bon Buddhist holiday week.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said warm, humid air flowing into eastern Japan combined with cold air above, creating extremely unstable atmospheric conditions. The agency earlier called the situation an “unprecedented level of heavy rain.” Rain was expected to continue through late Friday.

“This case was an extremely unusual situation, even by Japan’s historical weather standards,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai told reporters Friday morning. “I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this.”

At least five people were wounded, the BBC reported. The Chiba Prefecture Disaster Management Office said the dead included a 66-year-old woman trapped in her submerged car and a man in his 60s or 70s found floating on a flooded road, according to Al Jazeera. Another man of unknown age was found collapsed on the street, and a fourth victim’s gender and age had not been determined. Al Jazeera also reported that a fifth person was feared dead and a sixth was unaccounted for.

Local authorities issued a level five emergency warning, Japan’s highest alert, on Thursday. It was downgraded to level four by Friday morning as rain eased, but officials continued to warn of flooding and landslide risks. Kumagai said authorities would prioritize saving lives and continue rescue efforts.

More than 20,000 households lost power, the BBC reported, while Al Jazeera said more than 22,000 households were without electricity by 11 a.m. Friday, citing Tokyo Electric Power. The rain also triggered landslides and flooding, with Al Jazeera reporting that about 80 homes were flooded.

Evacuation figures differed among officials and reports. The BBC said more than 100,000 households were asked to evacuate Thursday, while Al Jazeera reported that more than 230,000 people had been advised to take shelter. Soldiers were dispatched to help with relief efforts, officials said.

Transport was heavily disrupted. About 7,000 travelers were stranded overnight at Tokyo’s Narita airport after train services out of the area were stopped, the BBC reported. A Narita airport spokesperson said all flights were scheduled to operate normally Friday. Japan Airlines said some flights could be delayed but it did not expect cancellations. Al Jazeera reported that services partly resumed Friday morning with delays.

Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force said it evacuated 4,000 people from Soga train station after they were stranded by flooding for hours, according to Al Jazeera. The BBC reported that passengers were also stranded at metro stations and that around 1,800 people spent the night at the Chiba Prefectural Government building; Al Jazeera said hundreds sheltered there overnight.

A woman in Ichikawa city told NHK the rain “happened all of a sudden so it was a complete surprise.” She added: “The power is out so I’m worried whether I can open my business in the next couple of days.”

The deluge followed a series of storms across Japan and neighboring countries during what has been forecast to be an unusually active typhoon season. Earlier in the week, Japan, the Philippines and China were hit by back-to-back storms — Dolphin, Chan-Hom and Peilou. Dolphin brought heavy rain to Okinawa, cut power to tens of thousands of buildings, toppled trees and canceled flights. Chinese authorities evacuated more than a million people over the weekend as Dolphin, the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year, made landfall in the east.