Heavy rains, strong winds cause chaos for commuters in Tokyo

Torrential rains and strong winds wreaked havoc on transportation services in the Tokyo metropolitan area on Tuesday morning, affecting hundreds of thousands of commuters.

The Meteorological Agency said the amount of rainfall over the past 24 hours until 9 a.m. on Tuesday reached 246 millimeters in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture; 160 millimeters in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and 141 millimeters in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Train services on the JR Tokaido Line, Keiyo Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Musashino Line, Sobu Line, Uchibo Line, Narita Line and Kururi Line were temporarily suspended, stranding a large number of passengers.

Plane and ferry schedules were also disrupted due to the stormy weather.

The agency warned that heavy rain and thunderstorms may hit the Pacific side of eastern and northern Japan throughout Tuesday night.

The anticipated rainfall over 24 hours until 6 a.m. on Wednesday is up to 200 millimeters in Hokkaido; 120 millimeters on the Pacific side of the Tohoku region and the Kanto and Koshin region; and 80 millimeters in the Tokai region.

(Mainichi - May 20th 2008)