NARITA: Eight people died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left thousands stranded at Narita airport overnight and snarled up roads and rail services, authorities said on Friday.
This month is already the wettest August recorded by the Chiba weather station in 60 years, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website data shows. During one of Japan’s busiest holiday weeks, more than 360mm (14 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours in parts of the Chiba area adjoining Tokyo, inundating roads and railways, with soldiers sent to help with rescue efforts.
The torrential downpours late Thursday triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time. Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.
“This case was an extremely unusual situation,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai told reporters. “I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this.”
The eight dead included one person trapped in a submerged vehicle, public broadcaster NHK said, citing Chiba authorities and police.
At Narita, airport staff distributed sleeping bags, water and snacks to hundreds of passengers, many of whom had bedded down on Thursday after transport disruptions stranded about 7,000 people, causing widespread chaos.
More than 20,000 homes were without power in the early hours of Friday, after rain flooded a power substation, utility Tokyo Electric Power said, while gas supply to nearly 13,000 was temporarily cut.
In Chiba city, one of the worst-hit spots, hundreds of people spent the night under foil blankets at makeshift evacuation centres in government buildings.
Some major highways in Chiba were shut, forcing drivers to take alternative routes that clogged traffic, said highway operator NEXCO East.
Several rail services were also suspended on Friday, though some services from Narita to Tokyo resumed, easing congestion at the international transport hub.
More than a dozen cars were abandoned on low-lying roads. At Narita, sleeping bags piled up as passengers slept all over the terminal, with massive lines forming for check-in across the airport.
Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026