Eight dead, and over 10K left stranded as record-breaking rain pummels Japan

A wall of record-breaking rain has turned roads into rivers east of Tokyo, killing at least eight people and leaving more than 10,000 travelers and commuters stranded across Japan’s Chiba prefecture.Around 7,000 people were forced to sleep inside terminals at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport after floodwaters severed rail and road connections during one of Japan’s busiest holiday travel periods.Emergency workers could be seen handing out sleeping bags, water and food as families bedded down across crowded departure halls on Thursday night.Among the eight people who have died in the flooding was a man believed to be in his 60s or 70s who was found floating on a flooded road in Ichikawa.A 66-year-old woman also died after becoming trapped inside her submerged car in Sakura, while other victims were found in flooded vehicles or collapsed on streets across 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 ...