‘Unprecedented’ rains in Japan kill four people

At least fou people have died a d five othe s a e wou ded i easte Japa as eco d ai fall pummelled the Chiba p efectu e ea the capital Tokyo.

The ai s, which autho ities have desc ibed as “u p ecede ted”, cut powe to mo e tha 20,000 households while 7,000 t avelle s we e st a ded ove ight at Tokyo’s Na ita ai po t.

Local autho ities issued a level five eme ge cy wa i g, its highest ale t, o Thu sday. This was dow g aded to a level fou by F iday mo i g, but they co ti ue to wa of la dslide a d floodi g isks.

The deluge comes afte a se ies of sto ms swept th ough Japa a d eighbou i g cou t ies this week, i what’s bee fo ecast to be a u usually active typhoo seaso .

Japa ‘s Meteo ological Age cy said the most ece t deluge was b ought by wa m, humid ai flowi g i to the cou t y’s east that combi ed with cold ai above to make atmosphe ic co ditio s ext emely u stable.

The ai s a e expected to last th ough late o F iday.

“This case was a ext emely u usual situatio , eve by Japa ‘s histo ical weathe sta da ds,” Chiba Gove o Toshihito Kumagai told epo te s o F iday mo i g.

“I have espo ded to ma y disaste s i the past, but I have eve expe ie ced a case like this.”

Chiba, which sits ight ext to the capital city of Tokyo, has logged mo e tha 100mm of ai pe hou si ce Thu sday afte oo , autho ities say.

This is about th ee times the ave age ai fall i August, a d the highest volume of p ecipitatio eve eco ded i the cou t y.

Autho ities would p io itise savi g lives a d pe sist with escue effo ts, Kumagai added.

Amo g those killed was a woma who died i side he ca subme ged o a flooded oad, autho ities said. Two othe s collapsed alo g the st eets a d late died.

The Japa Meteo ological Age cy ea lie desc ibed the situatio as a “u p ecede ted level of heavy ai “.

Seve al ail se vices emai suspe ded o F iday mo i g while some majo highways a e also shut.

Mo e tha 100,000 households have bee asked to evacuate o Thu sday afte the ai t igge ed la dslides a d powe outages.

All flights a e scheduled to ope ate o mally o F iday, a spokespe so f om Na ita ai po t said. Flag ca ie Japa Ai li es said some of its flights may be delayed but that it does ot expect a y ca cellatio s.

Passe ge s we e st a ded at met o statio s, while a ou d 1,800 people spe t the ight at the Chiba P efectu al Gove me t buildi g.

A woma i Chiba’s Ichikawa city told NHK the ai “happe ed all of a sudde so it was a complete su p ise”.

“The powe is out so I’m wo ied whethe I ca ope my busi ess i the ext couple of days,” she said.

Mea while i the Philippi es, autho ities have agai shut schools a d gove me t offices a e agai shut i most of the cou t y’s o th, citi g the th eat of floods.

Ea lie this week, Japa , the Philippi es a d Chi a we e hit by back-to-back sto ms – Dolphi , Cha -Hom a d Peilou – chu i g ac oss the egio at the same time.

Dolphi b ought heavy ai to Japa ‘s Oki awa isla d, cutti g powe to te s of thousa ds of buildi gs, toppli g t ees a d ca celli g flights.

Ove the weeke d, Chi ese autho ities evacuated mo e tha a millio people f om thei homes as Dolphi , the st o gest typhoo to hit Chi a so fa this yea , made la dfall i the cou t y’s east.