Flooding near Tokyo kills 4, disrupts travel
TOKYO — Record-breaking rainfall that pounded cities east of Tokyo overnight flooded roads and dozens of homes, stranded thousands of people, caused power outages and left at least four people dead and one missing.
The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe warning for heavy rain in more than a dozen municipalities in Chiba prefecture as rain subsided Friday morning but forecast more rain later in the day.
Photos and television footage showed widespread damage after daylight, with homes, cars and parts of railway tracks flooded with muddy water.
The Ground Self-Defense Force said it dispatched buses to pick up about 4,000 stranded people who stayed overnight at the Soga train station, a local route that also serves Tokyo Disney.
The theme park did not report any damage.
Thousands more people were stuck overnight at the Narita airport serving the Tokyo region, with trains out of the area stopped.
Services partially resumed Friday morning with delays, while flights in and out of Narita were operating normally Friday, with many people returning home at the end of Japan's B
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