Chiba officials clear flood-stranded cars as traffic snarls persist

Last week’s torrential rain in Chiba Prefecture left thousands of vehicles submerged, leaving about 2,700 cars abandoned as of Sunday and creating severe bottlenecks on major routes. The city of Chiba has removed roughly 500 of the estimated 2,500 cars on its roads, reducing many two-lane sections to a single usable lane and forcing drivers to travel at reduced speeds. The accumulation of stranded vehicles has also triggered rear-end collisions on flooded streets.

In response, a disaster volunteer centre was set up on Monday to organize residents willing to help clean homes damaged by the floods. The prefectural government reports that the storm caused ten fatalities and that two men remain missing. Cleanup and traffic restoration efforts are expected to continue as the region recovers from the Obon holiday surge.