Four dead, thousands stranded in Japan’s Chiba following heavy rain

14 Aug 2026, 05:34 by Baisakhi · KalingaTV

Tokyo: At least four people were dead and one missing in Chiba prefecture due to flooding caused by torrential rain in Japan.

As per sources, the rain disrupted transport, flooded houses and left thousands of people unable to reach homes or workplaces on Friday.

Heavy downpours struck several areas of Chiba in Japan’s first use of its highest-level “level five” flood warning against the current background conditions.

Chiba City’s rainfall for the hour ending around 3.00am JST was 11.5cm (4.5 inches) while the city of Sakura recorded 9.7cm in the same period, officials said.

“These are extreme rains, far exceeding historical records. It has never rained like this before”, Tokyo residents added.

A man was discovered floating in the floodwaters in Ichikawa while another person died when trapped in a vehicle submerged by flood waters in Sakura.

Another person, rescued from a submerged car in Kashiwa, was later thought to have died, police confirmed.

The weather, which eased for a few hours early in the morning, paralysed transport throughout Chiba.

Around 4,000 travellers forced to spend the night at Soga railway station were taken to safety on buses organised by Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force (JSDF).

Meanwhile thousands of travellers to Tokyo and overseas were stranded on Thursday night when railway lines suspended services because of flooding.

Several thousand others were also stranded on Thursday night at Narita airport after a disruption on the airport access rail links.

Local media showed footage of residents clambering to safety onto vehicles and climbing the roofs of buses.

Some sought shelter in the Chiba Prefectural Government offices as the situation worsened.

Japan’s weather agency eased the top-level warning in some municipalities after a temporary improvement but officials said more heavy rain was possible later in the day.

Four dead, thousands stranded in Japan’s Chiba following heavy rain

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