Arya News - Severe inland flooding left more than 3,000 vehicles disabled and stranded along local roads – while entire condominium complexes were left without power, due to their basements being inundated.
CHIBA – Torrential rain that struck Chiba Prefecture on Aug. 13 exposed the vulnerability of urban infrastructure, with heavy damage still apparent a week after the disaster.
Severe inland flooding – flooding of noncoastal areas for reasons other than rivers overflowing – left more than 3,000 vehicles disabled and stranded along local roads, while entire condominium complexes were left without power due to their basements being inundated.
Stranded vehicle removal
Watching his stranded car finally get towed away from a residential street on Wednesday, Takahide Aizumi, a 46-year-old self-employed man in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m just so glad it’s finally been moved,” he said.
The torrential downpour on Aug. 13 coincided with the evening commute. Aizumi was driving back from work after 7 p.m. when his car became stranded while trying to navigate a flooded road. With water rising as high as the dashboard, he managed to escape by rolling down a window.
Because the vehicle had stalled near the centerline of a single-lane road, he consulted prefectural police and others before having it moved to the side of the road. He put a note on the car that said, “Tow truck requested,” but it was another six days before the vehicle was finally towed.
As of Wednesday night, the Japan Automobile Federation had received 4,451 calls for rescue services and towing related to flooded roads, according to preliminary figures.
According to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey, more than 3,000 vehicles were left stranded along roads — including about 2,500 on municipal roads in Chiba City alone, as well as on national highways and prefectural roads. According to the prefectural government, about 600 vehicles remained stranded on major roads, including national highways, as of Tuesday morning,.
“Vehicles were left behind in previous floods as well, but the scale of this disaster is unprecedented,” said a prefectural official.
Danger of underpasses
Rear-end collisions involving abandoned cars have occurred, according to prefectural police.
Under the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Law, the prefectural and Chiba municipal governments took emergency measures, including moving vehicles that obstructed emergency vehicles out of the way.
Chiba city authorities had relocated all stranded vehicles off its arterial roads to public lots by Wednesday. However, its residential roads remain largely untouched, and there is no clear timetable for full removal on prefectural and local roads in other areas.
“All government bodies will work as one with a sense of urgency,” Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai said Tuesday.
At least four people are believed to have drowned in their vehicles during the downpour, some of them trapped in underpasses by rising water.
According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, there are about 3,800 underpasses across the nation. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed relevant government ministries and agencies Tuesday to step up measures aimed at keeping vehicles from entering flooded underpasses. The transport ministry is considering steps such as physically barring vehicles from passing through and alerting drivers to the hazards.
Displaced residents
Floodwater also inundated the basements of residential complexes, medical facilities and commercial buildings, submerging electrical equipment and triggering prolonged power outages.
Chiba University Hospital canceled all surgeries Wednesday after pumps draining the basement broke down, hampering its ability to clean and sterilize surgical and diagnostic equipment.
At least 15 condominium complexes suffered complete blackouts, primarily in Chuo Ward, Chiba City, according to reports by municipalities in the prefecture. A 56-year-old man whose condominium in the ward remains without electricity has evacuated with his 90-year-old mother and is staying at an acquaintance’s house nearby.
“I was worried my elderly mother might suffer heatstroke. We simply can’t go back until power and water services are restored,” the man said. “I just hope the blackout ends as quickly as possible.”