American Marconi Wireless News - Heavy rain soaks eastern Japan, prompting highest-level warning

Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed cars submerged in floodwaters in a residential area in the city of Kashiwa, Chiba region.

"This is shaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain," a Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official told a news conference.

In areas hit by the localised rainfall, "lives may be in imminent danger. Please secure your safety immediately," the official said.

More than 100,000 households, mostly in Chiba, but also in the Ibaraki and Saitama regions, were urged to evacuate, according to the disaster management agency.

Hundreds of people were left stranded in Chiba station due to suspended train services, an AFP journalist saw.

In the hour leading up to 9:00 pm (1200 GMT), approximately 100 millimetres (3.9 inches) of rain fell in the vicinity of Sakura city, Chiba, NHK reported, citing JMA.

The JMA issued its highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time ever, the JMA official told reporters.

The agency's top-level warning -- issued for more than a dozen cities in Chiba -- typically indicates a high likelihood of an imminent disaster due to heavy rain.

NHK said the extreme weather knocked out power for more than 10,000 households in Chiba and that authorities had been alerted to instances of landslides, mudslides and flooded houses in several cities in the region.

"This happened all of a sudden so it was a complete surprise. The power is out so I'm worried whether I can open my business in the next couple of days," a woman in Chiba's Ichikawa city told NHK.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.

P.Santos--AMWN