Chiba downpour death toll rises to 9 with nearly 500 evacuated

Nine people have died and scores more have been evacuated following a series of heavy rains in Chiba Prefecture, according to the prefectural government's disaster response team. The death toll has now risen to nine, while one man remains missing. A total of 463 people are currently staying in 92 evacuation shelters across the region.

The victims include a man in his 70s found dead in an irrigation canal in Isumi city, a woman in her 70s discovered inside a car submerged up to its roof in Kashiwa, and a man in his 40s trapped in a flooded car in an underpass in Chiba. In another incident, a man reported to rescuers that he would return with equipment to help a man on the roof of a flooded car, but has since gone missing.

The severe downpour has left one house completely destroyed, 23 houses half-destroyed, and another 49 partially damaged. Additionally, 597 houses have been flooded above the floor level, and 490 below it. These numbers may rise further as surveys have yet to be conducted in the heavily impacted cities of Ichihara and Oamishirasato.

Preliminary reports indicate that 215 vehicles have been abandoned on roads managed by the prefecture, of which 132 have been removed. Despite the ongoing efforts, the current subscription plan does not allow for comments on this story.