Flooded underpass claims woman's life amid torrential rain…
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Flooded underpass claims woman's life amid torrential rain in eastern Japan
A woman was killed after heavy rain flooded an underpass in Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 7, as torrential downpours across eastern and northeastern Japan prompted emergency warnings and the first closure of an underpass in the city of Chiba since another person drowned there in August.
The Sept. 7 downpour, caused by a stalled autumn rain front, mainly hit the Kanto and Tohoku regions extending from the Tokyo area up to the country's northeast. From before dawn to the afternoon that day, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued Level 5 emergency warnings for landslide disasters for Niijima, Oshima and Toshima in Tokyo's Izu Islands, urging the highest level of caution. In Fukushima Prefecture, two cars were submerged in an underpass, leaving one person dead.
According to the agency, warm, moist air flowed into a front extending from near the southern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, making the front more active. The front is expected to move north and stall along the Pacific Ocean side of western and eastern Japan until around Sept. 10, with total rainfall possibly increasing, particularly on the Pacific coast.
Record rainfall hit the Izu Islands from Sept. 6 to Sept. 7. On Sept.7, emergency safety warnings urging residents to take immediate action to protect their lives were issued for about 10,000 people in the villages of Niijima and Toshima and in the town of Oshima. At the Oshima observation point in the town of Oshima, 24-hour rainfall through 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 reached 581.5 millimeters, the highest September figure ever recorded there.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Krovanh -- the 24th of the season -- which had been near Minamidaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture, was downgraded to a tropical depression at 9 a.m. on Sept. 7.
**Underpass listed on 'caution spot map'**
In an underpass in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, a 119 emergency call was made around 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 7 saying, "A car is under water." Two cars were submerged, and a woman was trapped in one of them. She was found unconscious and later confirmed dead at a hospital. The municipal fire department initially said the woman was in her 50s but later corrected her age to her 60s. The driver of the other car escaped on their own and was safe.
The underpass is on a road connecting an adjacent shopping center and a prefectural road, and it is often congested during commuting hours. A woman in her 60s who lives nearby said, "It had been raining heavily since before dawn. I think it flooded in an instant."
The city had listed the underpass on its road flooding caution map and had called for care during heavy rain, but it had not restricted traffic. Iwaki Mayor Hiroyuki Uchida issued a comment saying the city would "further strengthen its warning efforts, conduct another inspection and consider measures."
**Chiba implements first traffic restriction**
Cases in which cars were submerged in underpasses and occupants were killed also occurred one after another during torrential rain that hit Chiba Prefecture in mid-August. In response, the transport ministry began preventive traffic restrictions at a total of seven underpasses nationwide considered highly dangerous.
One of them, an underpass on National Route 16 in the city of Chiba's Chuo Ward was restricted for the first time on Sept. 7. The restriction lasted about 10 hours from 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 7, when a Level 4 heavy rain urgent warning was in effect in the city. One person died there after the underpass flooded during the August downpour.
The latest heavy rain affected trains and other transportation, and a string of school closures followed.
According to East Japan Railway Co., major lines including the Yamanote Line operated with 20% to 30% fewer trains than usual on the morning of Sept. 7. Services were suspended on some sections of the Tokaido Line, Chuo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line and other lines, affecting more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
#local
A woman was killed after heavy rain flooded an underpass in Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 7, as torrential downpours across eastern and northeastern Japan prompted emergency warnings and the first closure of an underpass in the city of Chiba since another person drowned there in August.
The Sept. 7 downpour, caused by a stalled autumn rain front, mainly hit the Kanto and Tohoku regions extending from the Tokyo area up to the country's northeast. From before dawn to the afternoon that day, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued Level 5 emergency warnings for landslide disasters for Niijima, Oshima and Toshima in Tokyo's Izu Islands, urging the highest level of caution. In Fukushima Prefecture, two cars were submerged in an underpass, leaving one person dead.
According to the agency, warm, moist air flowed into a front extending from near the southern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, making the front more active. The front is expected to move north and stall along the Pacific Ocean side of western and eastern Japan until around Sept. 10, with total rainfall possibly increasing, particularly on the Pacific coast.
Record rainfall hit the Izu Islands from Sept. 6 to Sept. 7. On Sept.7, emergency safety warnings urging residents to take immediate action to protect their lives were issued for about 10,000 people in the villages of Niijima and Toshima and in the town of Oshima. At the Oshima observation point in the town of Oshima, 24-hour rainfall through 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 reached 581.5 millimeters, the highest September figure ever recorded there.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Krovanh -- the 24th of the season -- which had been near Minamidaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture, was downgraded to a tropical depression at 9 a.m. on Sept. 7.
**Underpass listed on 'caution spot map'**
In an underpass in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, a 119 emergency call was made around 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 7 saying, "A car is under water." Two cars were submerged, and a woman was trapped in one of them. She was found unconscious and later confirmed dead at a hospital. The municipal fire department initially said the woman was in her 50s but later corrected her age to her 60s. The driver of the other car escaped on their own and was safe.
The underpass is on a road connecting an adjacent shopping center and a prefectural road, and it is often congested during commuting hours. A woman in her 60s who lives nearby said, "It had been raining heavily since before dawn. I think it flooded in an instant."
The city had listed the underpass on its road flooding caution map and had called for care during heavy rain, but it had not restricted traffic. Iwaki Mayor Hiroyuki Uchida issued a comment saying the city would "further strengthen its warning efforts, conduct another inspection and consider measures."
**Chiba implements first traffic restriction**
Cases in which cars were submerged in underpasses and occupants were killed also occurred one after another during torrential rain that hit Chiba Prefecture in mid-August. In response, the transport ministry began preventive traffic restrictions at a total of seven underpasses nationwide considered highly dangerous.
One of them, an underpass on National Route 16 in the city of Chiba's Chuo Ward was restricted for the first time on Sept. 7. The restriction lasted about 10 hours from 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 7, when a Level 4 heavy rain urgent warning was in effect in the city. One person died there after the underpass flooded during the August downpour.
The latest heavy rain affected trains and other transportation, and a string of school closures followed.
According to East Japan Railway Co., major lines including the Yamanote Line operated with 20% to 30% fewer trains than usual on the morning of Sept. 7. Services were suspended on some sections of the Tokaido Line, Chuo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line and other lines, affecting more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
#local
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