At least six people have died, and five others were injured after very heavy rain caused flooding and landslides in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo.
The rainfall cut electricity to more than 20,000 homes and disrupted transport, leaving about 7,000 travellers spending the night at Narita International Airport, as the BBC reports.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the heavy rain was caused by warm, wet air moving into eastern Japan and meeting colder air above, creating unstable weather conditions. Some areas received more than 100 millimetres of rain in one hour.
Authorities issued the highest emergency warning on Thursday as floodwaters and landslides threatened communities. The warning was later lowered, but officials continued to advise people to remain careful as heavy rain continued.
“This case was an extremely unusual situation, even by Japan’s historical weather standards,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said.
More than 100,000 households were advised to evacuate, while some railway services and major roads remained closed. Rescue teams continued helping affected communities as authorities warned of further flooding and landslides.
