World | By Ayan Irfan
TOKYO — Record-breaking rainfall has killed eight people in Japan’s Chiba prefecture, flooded communities east of Tokyo and stranded thousands of travelers at Narita International Airport, as authorities warned residents to remain alert even after the most severe rain began to ease.
More than 360 millimeters of rain fell within 24 hours in parts of Chiba, overwhelming drainage systems, submerging roads and vehicles and disrupting rail and highway connections across the region. Japan’s weather authorities described the rainfall as unprecedented.
Thousands Stranded at Narita Airport
Around 7,000 travelers were stranded overnight at Narita International Airport after flooding disrupted road and rail connections to one of Tokyo’s main international gateways.
Airport staff distributed sleeping bags and other supplies as passengers were forced to spend the night inside terminals. Some rail services later resumed, helping authorities begin clearing the backlog.
The flooding also disrupted other transport networks across Chiba, with roads inundated and railway services suspended or delayed.
Eight Confirmed Dead
Authorities confirmed eight deaths as rescue and recovery operations continued Friday.
Among the victims were people caught in rapidly rising floodwaters, including at least one person trapped in a submerged vehicle. Emergency crews and military personnel were deployed to affected areas as authorities searched flooded communities and assisted stranded residents.
Officials continued to warn about possible landslides and flooding despite the downgrading of some emergency weather warnings.
Power and Gas Supplies Hit
The disaster also caused major infrastructure disruption.
More than 20,000 homes lost electricity after a substation was flooded, while gas supplies were disrupted to nearly 13,000 households, according to Reuters. Hundreds of residents were forced into emergency shelters in Chiba city.
The scale of the rainfall has placed additional pressure on urban drainage and transportation infrastructure in densely populated areas surrounding Tokyo.
An August Rainfall Record
The rainfall has been extraordinary even by Japan’s standards.
Chiba has already experienced its wettest August in decades, while intense short-duration rainfall overwhelmed infrastructure designed to handle far lower volumes of water.
Images from the affected region showed vehicles partly submerged, streets transformed into waterways and railway infrastructure surrounded by floodwater.
Why It Matters
The disaster demonstrates how quickly extreme rainfall can paralyze infrastructure around one of the world’s largest metropolitan regions.
Flooding around Narita did not only affect local communities — it disrupted an international transport hub used by millions of passengers and exposed vulnerabilities in the road, rail, electricity and drainage systems connecting the airport with Tokyo.
With eight people dead, thousands of travelers stranded and communities still recovering, authorities are now shifting from emergency rescue toward assessing the full scale of the damage.
But with unstable weather conditions continuing, Japan’s immediate priority remains preventing the flooding from claiming more lives.