TOKYO: Record-breaking rainfall flooded cities east of Tokyo overnight, killing at least five people, injuring over two dozen others and stranding thousands, authorities said Friday.
As the deluge subsided, the Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe heavy-rain warning in more than a dozen municipalities in the prefecture of Chiba while forecasting more rain later Friday.
The prefecture saw unprecedented rainfall levels Thursday, with 1.5 centimeters (4.5 inches) in just one hour in Chiba City and 9.7 centimeters (3.8 inches) fell in one hour in the city of Sakura, JMA said.
Photos and television footage showed widespread damage, with homes, cars and parts of railway tracks filled with muddy water. Roads and dozens of homes were also flooded and some areas remained without power.
Chiba prefecture officials said the five deaths included a man found floating on a flooded road in Ichikawa city and a woman who had been stuck in a flooded car in Sakura. Two others were presumed dead after being pulled from flooded cars in the cities of Kashiwa and Chiba.
