Ten people died and three were missing due to flooding and landslides in Chiba and Fukushima prefectures as of 1 p.m. Saturday, a day after record heavy rain hit eastern parts of the country, according to inquiries made by The Yomiuri Shimbun. The rain added damage to areas already hit by two recent typhoons.
Residents in Mobara and Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, were busy dealing with flooding from early Saturday morning as the waters had not receded from their houses and the surrounding roads.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the largest amount of rainfall recorded in the 24 hours until 9:30 a.m. Saturday was 285 millimeters in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, the highest figure for October since the agency started keeping records. This was followed by 248 millimeters in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, and 198 millimeters in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. In these areas, the amount of rainfall exceeded the average for October.
In Chiba Prefecture, a man found lying on a bank of the Ichinomiyagawa river in Mobara was confirmed dead on Friday night. In Nagara, an 88-year-old man, who is believed to have been swept away in his car by the Ichinomiyagawa river, also died. In Chonan, an 81-year-old man was found dead near a truck parked on a submerged road, and a man, 91, was found dead in a submerged car in a rice field.
According to the Chiba prefectural government, at least 15 rivers in the prefecture flooded. At Narita Airport, about 3,000 passengers stayed overnight after becoming stranded due to suspended train and bus services.
Long road to recovery
According to the prefectural board of education and other sources, 834 students stayed overnight at public schools in the prefecture as they could not return to their homes due to flooding.
At the prefectural Ichinomiya Commercial High School in Ichinomiya, eight students spent an uneasy night at the school because their means of transportation was cut off and their parents or guardians could not come to pick them up. The male students stayed in a conference room and the female students in a Japanese-style room used by the school's tea ceremony club. They ate bento boxes supplied by the school.
From around 7 a.m. on Saturday when the floodwaters receded, parents and guardians came to pick them up by car, and all of them left the school at about 8:20 a.m. One student said: "I can finally go home. I couldn't sleep well, so I want to rest at home."
Tateyama was hit hard by Typhoon No. 15 in September. The Tomisaki district, where most houses are still covered with blue sheets, also suffered heavy rain. A 75-year-old man who is the head of the local residents' association, said: "The heavy rain was terrible, and rain leaked into many houses. The abnormal weather this year is too awful."
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