Most severe rainfall in Japanese history has hit Chiba Prefecture, where more than 100 milliseconds of rain fell each hour since Thursday afternoon, roughly three times the average for August. The deluge caused power cuts for over 20,000 households, triggered land‑slides, and forced around 100,000 residents to evacuate.
Local authorities raised a level‑five emergency warning – the highest alert – on Thursday and later downgraded it to level four. Despite the downgrade, officials continue to caution that risky landslides and floods remain possible.
The disaster claimed at least eight lives, according to NHK, Kyodo, and Asahi. Among the deceased was a woman who drowned inside her vehicle on a submerged road, and two others collapsed on the streets before succumbing to the flood.
Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai described the storm as “an extremely unusual situation, even by Japan’s historical weather standards” and noted that he has never faced a disaster of this magnitude in his career.
Narita International Airport saw thousands stranded overnight as the rain disrupted transport services. A spokesperson explained that all flights were scheduled to run normally, but Japan Airlines warned that a few might be delayed while cancellations were unlikely.
The storm comes after a string of typhoons – Dolphin, Chan‑Hom, and Peilou – battered Japan, the Philippines, and China, with heavy rains, power outages, and infrastructure damage across the region.
