Tokyo expands underground 'cathedral' complex to counter climate change rains

A staff member of Metropolitan Outer Floodway Management Office demonstrates how to perform check-ups inside a pressure-adjusting water tank, part of a complex of underground water discharge tunnels constructed to protect Tokyo and its suburbs against floods during heavy rain and typhoon seasons, at the Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel in Kasukabe, Japan, July 4, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato

KASUKABE, Japan (Reuters) - For picture essay, click

Just after 5 a.m. on August 30, water began flooding a vast underground chamber called the "cathedral" just north of Tokyo. The gushing water, captured by security cameras, was the rain that was drenching the capital region as Typhoon Shanshan lashed southwest Japan, 600 km (373 miles) away.