Typhoon Dujuan brought torrential rain and violent winds to Japan's Kanto region on Monday, causing river flooding, road inundation and landslides across Chiba prefecture, with rail, road and air traffic severely disrupted.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned conditions could deteriorate rapidly as the storm passed close to the Tokyo metropolitan area. Some locations in the Izu Islands recorded more than 300mm of rainfall since Saturday, prompting the highest-level landslide emergency warning for Oshima town.
In Chiba, the JR Narita Line between Chiba and Narita Airport was suspended, with Narita Express services 51 to 54 cancelled, leaving many arriving travellers stranded at the airport. More than 100 flights were cancelled at Narita, with netizens describing the airport as a "refugee camp."
Other Chiba rail lines including the Uchibo, Sotobo, Sobu, Togane, Kashima and Kururi lines were also suspended or heavily reduced.
Roads across Chiba were turned into muddy torrents, with vehicles stalled in deep water and manhole covers blown off by floodwater. Residents noted it was the third serious flood in less than two months.
Authorities issued a level-5 emergency safety warning for 299 households in Kimitsu after the Koito River threatened to overflow. The Takataki Dam in Ichihara was initially scheduled for emergency discharge but this was postponed as rainfall was lower than forecast.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's departure for New York to attend the UN General Assembly was delayed by four hours due to the storm. The equestrian eventing competition at the Asian Games in Aichi was postponed to Tuesday.
The typhoon comes a month after record rainfall in Chiba killed eight people and left about 6,600 people stranded overnight at Narita airport.
