A relentless deluge of unprecedented rainwater has transformed the streets east of Tokyo into gushing torrents, claiming the lives of at least eight individuals. This devastating weather event has marooned over 10,000 travelers and commuters throughout Japan’s Chiba prefecture.
Approximately 7,000 people found themselves spending the night inside terminals at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Floodwaters had cut off essential rail and road links, coinciding cruelly with one of Japan’s peak holiday travel seasons.
Emergency crews were seen distributing essentials like sleeping bags, water, and food as families made temporary beds in cramped departure halls on Thursday night. The scene was a somber testament to the storm’s impact.
Tragically, among the eight fatalities was a man in his 60s or 70s. He was discovered lifelessly adrift on a submerged road in Ichikawa, a grim reminder of the storm’s fury.
In another heart-wrenching incident, a 66-year-old woman perished after becoming ensnared within her flooded vehicle in Sakura. Other victims were similarly found in inundated cars or lying on flooded streets throughout the prefecture.
The scale of the downpour was extraordinary even by the standards of disaster-prone Japan, with over 14 inches of rain falling within 24 hours in parts of Chiba.
Chiba city recorded 4.5 inches in a single hour on Thursday evening, followed by more than 7 inches over three hours and 11.5 inches in six hours.
All three totals smashed local records dating back to 1966.
“This case was an extremely unusual situation, even by Japan’s historical weather standards,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said.
“I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this.”
Almost 230,000 residents were urged to seek safer ground as floodwaters poured through streets, swallowed cars and entered homes.
An early damage count found more than 80 homes had been flooded, but authorities warned the true figure was likely to rise as emergency crews reached more of the affected areas.
The rain knocked out power to about 68,000 households at its peak.
Roughly 23,000 remained without electricity on Friday morning.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its highest Level 5 heavy rain warning across 22 Chiba municipalities as the deluge intensified, along with its most severe landslide warning in six areas.
Those warnings were downgraded to Level 4 shortly after 5 a.m. on Friday as the worst of the rain eased.
However, forecasters warned that the atmosphere remained highly unstable and further intense thunderstorms were possible later in the day.
Waterlogged ground and swollen waterways also meant even comparatively modest rainfall could trigger fresh flooding or landslides.
At Narita, the airport company said approximately 7,000 people remained inside the terminals at 4 a.m. after buses and trains linking the airport with central Tokyo were suspended.
“I never thought I’d spend the night at the airport, but it is what it is and we are learning,” one stranded traveller told Japanese broadcaster NHK.
“We’re never going to forget this trip.”
Rail links began reopening in stages on Friday morning, although delays, cancellations and long queues continued.
Flights were operating broadly as scheduled, with Japan Airlines warning that some services could be delayed but saying no widespread cancellations were expected.
The chaos extended far beyond the airport.
More than 4,000 people spent the night inside JR Soga station after surrounding streets were submerged by water that reached as high as an adult’s waist.
As many as 1,700 other people took shelter inside the Chiba prefectural government building and a neighbouring government facility, while 11 temporary accommodation sites were opened across Chiba city.
Dozens of abandoned vehicles remained scattered across flooded roads on Friday morning.
On one stretch of road in central Chiba, more than 20 vehicles blocked traffic across approximately 492 feet.
Major highways linking Narita Airport with Tokyo were also closed or heavily congested, forcing motorists onto alternative routes.
Weather experts said the disaster was caused by a rare combination of cold air high in the atmosphere, an enormous supply of warm, moist air and converging winds over Chiba.