Record rains batter Japan and South Korea, killing 13 and sparking evacuations

Late last week and into this week, Japan experienced unprecedented rainfall, with Chiba receiving 115 mm in a single hour and Sakura posting a new one-hour record of 97 mm, prompting the first level-five heavy-rain warning since its May introduction. Authorities ordered evacuations for over 100,000 households, cut power to more than 20,000 customers in Chiba prefecture, and left thousands stranded at Narita airport; the disaster has claimed 13 lives, three of whom were found trapped in vehicles, and one individual is still missing.

The Japan Meteorological Agency described the event as an “unprecedented level” of heavy rain. South Korea also suffered record rains, with Geoje measuring 124.5 mm in one hour on 17 August and accumulating over 400 mm through the night. In the Pacific, Hurricane Lala reached Category 1 status, passed south of Hawaii with its eyewall grazing the main island, then weakened to a tropical storm before re-intensifying to Category 4 and moving northward without further island impact. A separate system, Saudel, achieved tropical-storm strength near Micronesia and is forecast to strengthen into a very strong or violent typhoon, potentially striking the Northern Mariana Islands and later tracking toward Okinawa prefecture.