At least five people have died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain triggered flooding, landslides and power outages, leaving thousands stranded overnight at Narita airport and disrupting road and rail services, authorities said Friday.
The torrential downpours that began late Thursday prompted landslide warnings and widespread power outages. Forecasters also issued the highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time.
In rural parts of Chiba, more than a dozen vehicles were abandoned on flooded, low-lying roads, an AFP journalist reported.
At Narita airport, thousands of stranded passengers spent the night in the terminals, with sleeping bags distributed as long queues formed at check-in counters.
One traveller from the United Kingdom, who identified himself to AFP as Philip, said he endured a nine-hour journey, including a taxi ride, before arriving at the airport early Friday.
Carrying a sleeping bag, he said he had been “just trying to get some sleep and watching Netflix”.
“Just get on with it, really. Nothing else you can do,” he said.
At a disaster management meeting in Chiba on Friday afternoon, an official confirmed that five people had died.
The prefecture had earlier reported that the victims included a man in his 60s or 70s who was found floating on a flooded road and a 66-year-old woman who became trapped in her submerged vehicle.
Other fatalities included a man of unknown age who was found collapsed on a street, while the identity, age and gender of another victim remained unclear.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that the death toll could rise to eight.
Meanwhile, nearly 26,000 households across Chiba prefecture remained without electricity, according to the disaster management office.
More than 80 homes were flooded in cities including Ichikawa, Kashiwa and Sakura, while water seeped into nearly 90 other houses below floor level.
“I never thought I’d spend the night at the airport, but it is what it is and we are learning,” one stranded passenger told NHK.
“We’re never going to forget this trip,” the traveller added.
Trains cancelled
A Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official said at a news conference on Thursday that the rainfall was “shaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain”.
Around 6,000 passengers were stranded overnight at Narita, one of the two main airports serving Tokyo, while many train services to and from the airport remained suspended until Friday afternoon, according to the Chiba disaster management office.
Social media users reported that airport staff distributed free water, food and sleeping bags to stranded passengers.
Hundreds of people were also stranded at Chiba Station after train services were suspended, an AFP journalist reported.
NHK said hundreds of residents spent the night in shelters across Chiba, showing images of vehicles partially submerged in floodwater in Kashiwa.
“This happened all of a sudden, so it was a complete surprise. The power is out, so I’m worried whether I can open my business in the next couple of days,” a woman in Ichikawa told NHK on Thursday.
The level-five heavy rain warnings were downgraded to level four by Friday morning.
Scientists have warned that human-driven climate change is contributing to more frequent, prolonged and intense extreme weather events.
AFP
