RismadarVoice Reporters, August 14, 2026
At least four people have died in eastern Japan after torrential rain triggered flooding, landslide warnings and widespread disruption to transport and power supplies, authorities said on Friday.
The heavy downpour on Thursday prompted Japan’s highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time, with authorities describing the rainfall as unprecedented.
The Chiba Prefecture Disaster Management Office said those confirmed dead included a man believed to be in his 60s or 70s who was found in a flooded road and a 66-year-old woman trapped inside a submerged vehicle.
A third victim, whose age was not immediately known, was found collapsed on a street, while the identity and circumstances surrounding the fourth death remained unclear.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK later reported that two additional people had died, bringing the reported death toll to six.
The downpour also disrupted air and rail services, leaving about 6,000 passengers stranded overnight at Narita International Airport, one of the main airports serving Tokyo.
Many train services to and from the airport were cancelled until Friday afternoon, according to the Chiba disaster authorities.
Images from Narita showed passengers sleeping on floors across the terminal, with long queues forming at check-in counters.
Airport staff reportedly distributed water, food and sleeping bags to stranded travellers.
One passenger told NHK that he had not expected to spend the night at the airport.
A British traveller identified as Philip told AFP that his journey to the airport took about nine hours, including a taxi ride.
“Just get on with it, really. Nothing else you can do,” he said.
Hundreds of other passengers were also stranded at Chiba Station after train services were suspended, while shelters accommodated residents displaced by the flooding.
The disaster management office said about 26,000 households in Chiba Prefecture were without electricity as of Friday.
At least 45 houses were flooded in cities including Ichikawa, Kashiwa and Sakura, while water entered another 39 homes below floor level.
A Japan Meteorological Agency official had warned on Thursday that the rainfall was “shaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain”.
The highest-level warnings were downgraded to level four by Friday morning, although authorities continued to warn residents about flooding and landslides.
Scientists have increasingly linked the rising frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events to human-driven climate change.
