Eastern Japan rain kills nine: Report

Heavy rain that struck eastern Japan has claimed the lives of nine individuals, according to public broadcaster NHK on Sunday. The unprecedented deluge caused over a thousand homes to flood and disrupted roads and rail services. Torrential downpours began late Thursday, triggering landslide warnings and power outages. The Chiba region received the highest level of heavy rain warning for the first time, with forecasters recording 30 centimetres of rain in 24 hours, marking the area's wettest August in six decades.

By Friday morning, Chiba city logged more than three times the rainfall typically seen in the entire month of August, as reported by Tokyo's land ministry. As of Saturday evening, Chiba's disaster management office listed eight deaths, with some victims trapped inside submerged cars and others found on flooded streets. Over 70 houses in the region were partially damaged, while more than a thousand households faced flooding, with nearly 600 experiencing water levels above the floorboards.

An estimated 1,200 cars remain abandoned on roads, with authorities working to tow them away or lift them using jacks. An official from Japan's Meteorological Agency stated during a news conference on Thursday that this was shaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain. Scientists attribute the increasing frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme weather events to human-driven climate change.