TOKYO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rain pounded eastern Japan on Thursday, prompting the weather agency to issue the highest level of emergency warning for parts of Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo in the evening.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a Level Five Emergency Warning, the highest on its scale, for heavy rain in 18 cities and a town in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Thursday evening.
The JMA also issued a Level Five Emergency Warning for landslides for the cities of Chiba and Ichihara in the prefecture.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, as of 10 p.m. local time, evacuation orders had been issued for more than 218,000 people in Chiba, Ibaraki and Saitama prefectures.
One person was confirmed dead in Ichikawa City in Chiba Prefecture, Kyodo News reported.
A woman in her 70s was taken to hospital but is feared dead after she was found trapped inside a car on a flooded road in Kashiwa, also in Chiba Prefecture, the report said.
At a press conference on Thursday evening, the weather agency urged people to exercise utmost caution. An official said: "This is the kind of heavy rain that people have not experienced before. It's highly likely that disasters have already occurred in areas expected to be flooded." ■