Japan rain: over 100,000 households urged to evacuate

More than 100,000 households in eastern Japan, mostly in Chiba, were urged to evacuate on Thursday as torrential rain triggered flooding, landslides and power outages.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time. A JMA official said the rainfall was becoming unprecedented and warned that lives could be in imminent danger in affected areas.

Public broadcaster NHK showed cars submerged in floodwaters in a residential area of Kashiwa, Chiba. An AFP journalist saw hundreds of people stranded at Chiba station because train services were suspended.

NHK reported, citing the JMA, that about 100 millimetres of rain fell near Sakura city, Chiba, in the hour to 9:00 pm. NHK also said more than 10,000 households in Chiba lost power and that authorities had been alerted to landslides, mudslides and flooded houses in several cities.

The JMA's top-level warning was issued for more than a dozen cities in Chiba and typically indicates a high likelihood of an imminent disaster due to heavy rain.