Japan's eastern region is reeling after a catastrophic downpour unleashed chaos across the Tokyo area on Friday, leaving at least eight people dead and thousands stranded at one of the world's busiest international airports.
The deluge that pounded Chiba Prefecture—which borders Tokyo—brought record-breaking rainfall totalling more than 360 millimetres in just 24 hours, shattering the previous record of 309 millimetres set back in October 2013. The extreme weather struck during one of Japan's peak holiday travel weeks, compounding the disaster's impact.
At Tokyo's Narita International Airport, about 7,000 passengers found themselves trapped overnight Thursday as transportation systems collapsed under the weight of the flooding. Airport staff scrambled to distribute sleeping bags, water, and snacks to hundreds of exhausted travellers who had nowhere else to go. One frustrated passenger, 48-year-old Chiba resident Minoru Yamasaki returning from holiday, described the nightmare: "I queued for a taxi, but the wait was four hours." He had booked a hotel only to be turned away, forcing him back to the airport floor.
"This case was an extremely unusual situation," Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai told reporters Friday morning. "I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this."
Infrastructure Collapse: Power, Transport Shutdown
The rainfall's destructive force extended far beyond the airport terminal. Over 20,000 homes lost electrical power in the early Friday hours after floodwaters inundated a Tokyo Electric Power substation. Gas supply to nearly 13,000 additional homes was temporarily cut off, leaving residents in the dark and without heat.
Major highway systems across Chiba were forced to shut down, creating gridlock as drivers scrambled to find alternate routes. Railway services, critical to Japan's transportation network, suspended operations, though some Narita-to-Tokyo service resumed by Friday afternoon to help ease the congestion.
In Chiba city, one of the hardest-hit areas, hundreds of residents spent the night sheltering under foil blankets at emergency evacuation centres set up in government buildings.
Tragedy Among the Chaos
Among the eight confirmed deaths was at least one person who became trapped inside a submerged vehicle, according to public broadcaster NHK, citing Chiba authorities and police. The full extent of injuries and missing persons remained unclear as rescue operations continued throughout the region.
Airport officials indicated that most flight operations were expected to resume normal schedules by Friday, though the full recovery of transport networks remained uncertain.
This extreme weather event underscores Japan's increasing vulnerability to severe climate-driven disasters, joining a growing list of unprecedented natural emergencies across the Asia-Pacific region this year.
This story was originally reported by CBC World.