Maximum alert in Chiba prefecture, risk of landslides
At least four people have died and one is in serious condition after torrential rains hit eastern Japan on Thursday, continuing for 24 hours. The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued a Level 5 warning, the highest on the scale, for over a third of the municipalities in Chiba prefecture, located east of the capital, along with a landslide warning for several municipalities, including the city of Chiba itself and Ichihara. According to the JMA, the rains were caused by the meeting between warm, humid air coming from the east and cold air at high altitude, which made the atmosphere extremely unstable. Rainfall may continue in the area through Friday. The flooded streets prompted local authorities to invite the population to seek safety immediately.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, evacuation orders initially affected over 400 thousand people in Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures; as of 7 a.m. Friday, they remained in effect for about 126,000 residents.
Over 200 evacuation centers have been set up across Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama and Gunma.
Among the victims, a man found on a submerged road in Ichikawa and a 66-year-old woman trapped in her car in Sakura. Two more deaths were confirmed in Yachiyo and Sakura. A woman who was stranded in her car in Kashiwa has been hospitalized. Also in Chiba, hundreds of people tried to find shelter in flooded streets as water rose from manholes. About 45,000 homes suffered power outages, according to Tokyo Electric Power.
