Record-breaking heavy rain hit the Kanto region of Japan. Niijima issued the highest alert. Vehicles in the Fukushima underground tunnel were flooded and one person lost consciousness.

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, 7th, comprehensive foreign news report) Japan was affected by the stagnant autumn rain front, and areas mainly in Kanto suffered record-breaking heavy rain today. The Meteorological Agency has issued the highest level of alert for Shinjima, an outlying island in Tokyo; many cars were soaked in water in the underground tunnels of Fukushima Prefecture, and one person lost consciousness.

The "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported that Niijima is located offshore of Tokyo and is administratively divided into Niijima Village, Tokyo. At 4:15 this morning, the local area received the "Special Earthslide Warning Level 5" issued by the Meteorological Agency, the highest alert level. This is the third time the Meteorological Agency has issued this warning after adopting new disaster prevention weather information in May this year.

In response, Nishima Village this morning called on residents in the warning area and its surroundings to issue an immediate evacuation. As of 10 a.m. this morning, there had been no reports of landslides or anyone being affected.

The Meteorological Agency pointed out that as of 7:30 this morning, the cumulative rainfall observed in Nishima Village in 24 hours reached 445 mm, setting a record high in local observation history.

Partial areas of Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures were also hit by heavy rains. Chiba City, Takahagi City in Ibaraki Prefecture, Zushi City in Kanagawa Prefecture and other places also received heavy rain and landslide warnings with the second-highest warning level.

The heavy rain in Chiba at the end of August killed 13 people. One of them died when his vehicle was flooded in the "National Route 16 Muratacho Underpass", an underground tunnel in Chuo-ku, Chiba City. In order to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (referred to as the Ministry of International Trade and Industry for short) implemented preventive traffic control this morning and completely prohibited vehicles from passing through this underground tunnel.

JR East pointed out that at 9:30 this morning, the Shonan Shinjuku Line, Azusa trains and other trains will stop running from the first train. Major railway lines in the metropolitan area such as the Yamanote Line and the Keihin Tohoku Line operate at reduced frequencies. Normal service is expected to resume this evening; however, the Yamagata Shinkansen between Fukushima Station and Shinjo Station will be suspended throughout the day.

Regarding air traffic, All Nippon Airways (ANA) has decided to cancel two flights between Tokyo Haneda Airport and Hachijo Island.

Disasters have been reported in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture due to heavy rain. In the Yoneda area of ​​Kashima Town, Iwaki City, pedestrians reported to the firefighting unit this morning that "many vehicles in the underground tunnel were flooded." The Iwaki City Fire Headquarters stated that two vehicles were flooded and an unconscious woman was rescued from one of the collapsed vehicles. The woman has been sent to hospital for treatment.

Before 8 a.m. this morning, Iwaki City recorded a rainfall of 47 millimeters in one hour.