Immobile: A car sitting in water after the area was devastated by flooding in Mabi, Okayama prefecture. — AFP
TOKYO: Japanese have long been conditioned to prepare for earthquakes, but recent powerful typhoons and sudden, heavy rains have brought to the forefront another kind of disaster: flooding.
Experts warn that thousands could die and as many as five million people would need to be evacuated if massive dikes and levees in low-lying eastern Tokyo are overwhelmed by surging floodwaters.
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