Torrential rain pummeled eastern Japan on Thursday, triggering landslides and power outages, and prompting the weather authority to issue its highest-level heavy rain warning for the region for the first time.
Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed cars submerged in floodwaters in a residential area in Kashiwa, Chiba.
Why did Japan issue its highest-level heavy rain warning?
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the warning after calling the downpour an unprecedented level of heavy rain, with officials saying lives may be in imminent danger in the hardest-hit areas.
The agency urged residents in affected zones to secure their safety immediately as floodwaters and landslides spread across Chiba.
How much rain fell in Chiba during the storm?
"This is shaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain," a JMA official told a news conference. In the hour leading up to 9:00 pm (1200 GMT), approximately 100 milimetres of rain fell near Sakura city, Chiba, NHK reported, citing the JMA.
The agency issued its highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time ever, an official confirmed to reporters.
How many households were told to evacuate in Japan?
More than 100,000 households, mostly in Chiba but also in the Ibaraki and Saitama regions, were urged to evacuate, according to the disaster management agency.
The top-level warning, issued for more than a dozen cities in Chiba, typically signals a high likelihood of imminent disaster from heavy rain. Hundreds of people were left stranded at Chiba station after train services were suspended, an AFP journalist saw.
What damage did the heavy rain cause in Chiba?
NHK said the extreme weather knocked out power for more than 10,000 households in Chiba, with authorities alerted to landslides, mudslides and flooded houses across several cities in the region.
"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 Chiba's Ichikawa city told NHK.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.
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