Deadly Record Rainfall Strands Thousands and Leaves Four Dead in Japan's Chiba Prefecture

A woman wades through a flooded road near Chiba metro station on August 13, 2026, as heavy rain swept through the area [Philip Fong/AFP]. Record rainfall has tragically claimed at least four lives and left thousands of travellers stranded in Japan’s Chiba prefecture, located east of Tokyo.

Certain areas of Chiba recorded more than 360mm of rain over a 24-hour period leading into Friday, severely flooding roads and rail lines. This disaster struck during the Bon Buddhist holiday week, which marks one of Japan’s busiest travel periods.

According to the Chiba Prefecture Disaster Management Office, the victims included a man in his 60s or 70s discovered floating on a flooded road, and a 66-year-old woman who was trapped inside her submerged car. A third fatality involved a man of unknown age found collapsed on the street, while the fourth victim was a person of undetermined gender and age. Furthermore, a fifth person is feared dead and a sixth remains unaccounted for. Officials stated that soldiers have been deployed to the area to assist with ongoing relief efforts.

“This case was an extremely unusual situation,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai informed reporters on Friday morning. “I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this.”

Data from Tokyo Electric Power revealed that over 22,000 households were left without power by 11am (02:00 GMT) on Friday. Approximately 80 homes suffered from flooding, and officials report that more than 230,000 individuals have been advised to seek shelter.

Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force reported that it successfully evacuated 4,000 people from Soga train station after floodwaters trapped them for hours. Thousands of additional travellers were forced to spend the night stranded at Narita airport, which serves the Tokyo region, as local train services were halted. Transport services partially resumed on Friday morning with notable delays, while flights operating in and out of Narita returned to normal schedules on Friday, with many citizens attempting to return home as the Bon Buddhist holiday week concluded. Additionally, hundreds of people sought overnight shelter at the Chiba prefectural government building.

As the rain subsided on Friday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe heavy rain warnings for more than a dozen municipalities within Chiba prefecture, though additional rainfall was forecasted for later in the day. Daylight revealed widespread destruction through photographs and television footage, showing homes, cars, and sections of railway tracks submerged in muddy water.