World news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-21 · by Morgan Thomas for MetDesk
Severe rainstorms hit South Korea and Japan last week and into this week, with record-breaking rainfall in several cities, including Chiba, where 115mm fell in one hour on August 13. The storms caused widespread disruption, with over 100,000 households asked to evacuate and more than 20,000 left without power in the Chiba prefecture. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, three of whom were trapped in their vehicles. A separate storm system, Saudel, is forecast to intensify into a potentially violent typhoon by the weekend and may make landfall on the Northern Mariana Islands or Okinawa.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On August 13, a record-breaking 115mm of rainfall occurred in just one hour in Chiba, a city near Tokyo, with nearby Sakura also breaking its own rain record at 97mm per hour. This extreme weather prompted local authorities to issue a level 5 emergency warning, the highest alert level, for the first time since the system was implemented in May. The heavy rain led to evacuations of over 100,000 households, with more than 20,000 left without power in Chiba prefecture and thousands stranded at Tokyo's Narita airport. Unfortunately, 13 people have been confirmed dead, with at least three found trapped inside their vehicles, and one person is still missing. The Japan Meteorological Agency described the rain as an "unprecedented level" of heavy rain, while nearby South Korea also experienced record-breaking rainfall in cities such as Geoje, where 124.5mm fell within one hour on August 17.
Written for “East Asia Rain Deluging” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 1852 · logged 2026-08-28
South Korea and Japan were hit by extreme rain late last week and into this week.
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Korea → hit → week
On 13 August in the city of Chiba near Tokyo there was a record-breaking 115mm of rainfall in just one hour, while the nearby city of Sakura broke its own record with 97mm in one hour.
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city → be → hour
Local authorities issued a level 5 emergency warning for heavy rain, the highest alert level and the first time one has been issued since the system was implemented in May.
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system → issue → May
More than 100,000 households were asked to evacuate, with more than 20,000 in the Chiba prefecture left without power, while thousands of people were stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport.
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thousands → ask → airport
Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, at least three of whom were found trapped inside their vehicles.
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three → confirm → vehicles
One person is still missing.
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person → miss → ?
Japan is no stranger to heavy rainfall, thanks to the conditions created when warm and moist air from the north Pacific meets cooler air.
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air → create → air
This latest event has been especially severe, however, with the Japan Meteorological Agency describing it as an “unprecedented level” of heavy rain.
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Agency → describe → rain
There was also record-breaking rain in nearby South Korea, where in the city of Geoje 124.5mm fell within one hour early on 17 August.
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mm → be → August
In total more than 400mm fell through the night.
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mm → fall → night
Meanwhile, across the north Pacific, Hurricane Lala achieved category 1 hurricane status on 15 August, travelling westwards towards Hawaii with wind speeds of about 80mph (130km/h).
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Lala → achieve → mph
Lala passed just to the south of the island chain the following day, with the eyewall grazing the southern part of the main island, causing it to weaken back down to a tropical storm.
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it → pass → storm
Kona international airport on the island recorded its lowest ever pressure as Lala passed.
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Lala → record → pressure
After passing Hawaii, the storm restrengthened into a category 4 hurricane and gradually shifted to a more northerly trajectory.
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storm → pass → trajectory
It is not expected to affect any other Pacific Islands before degrading.
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It → expect → Islands
Another system in the north Pacific developed close to Micronesia last week and was named Saudel as it reached tropical storm status.
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it → develop → status
Saudel is forecast to intensify through the weekend, becoming a very strong or potentially violent typhoon.
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Saudel → forecast → weekend
Travelling north-west, it will pass very close to or even make landfall on the Northern Mariana Islands, where a warning is already in place.
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warning → travel → place
Next week, Saudel is expected to track towards Okinawa prefecture, the chain of islands to the south of mainland Japan.
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Saudel → expect → Japan
