Photo courtesy of Anadolu
Torrential rain battered Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, prompting Japan’s weather agency to issue its highest Level 5 heavy rain warning across more than a third of the prefecture’s municipalities.
Authorities urged residents to take immediate action as flooding and landslide risks intensified, with several local governments placed under the highest level of landslide alert.
Floodwaters submerged roads across Chiba, trapping vehicles and disrupting traffic while emergency crews responded to widespread inundation.
Evacuation orders were issued at one point to more than 400,000 people in Chiba and neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
By Friday morning, around 102,600 residents in Chiba remained under evacuation orders as authorities continued assessing conditions in affected areas.
More than 200 evacuation centers were opened across Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama and Gunma prefectures to accommodate residents forced from their homes.
Authorities confirmed six deaths in Chiba, including victims found in floodwaters and inside vehicles caught on inundated roads. Transport disruptions also stranded around 7,000 people overnight at Narita Airport after train and bus services were suspended.
In Chiba City’s Chuo Ward, rainfall reached 115 millimeters in just one hour Thursday night, an amount roughly comparable to the area’s average rainfall for the entire month of August.