Heavy rain closes a road in Chiba

A road in Chiba, a city in Japan, is closed because of heavy rain. The road is part of Route 16, a big road in Japan. In Murata-cho, a part of Chuo Ward in Chiba, the road goes through an underpass^*1. The closed part is about 1 kilometer^*2 long. It runs from the Furuichiba intersection^*3 in Hamano-cho to the intersection on the west side of Hamano Station in Murata-cho.

The road was closed at 12:30 a.m. on Monday, September 7. That is half an hour after midnight. No cars can use the underpass in either direction.

The Chiba National Highway Office closed the road. This is a government office that looks after big roads. It is part of the Kanto Regional Development Bureau, which belongs to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Typhoon^*4 No. 24 brought heavy rain to the area. A level 4 heavy rain danger warning^*5 was announced. The office closed the road so that cars do not have accidents when water covers the road.

The office has a rule for this underpass. It closes the road when one of three things happens. First, a level 4 heavy rain danger warning is announced. Second, 50 millimeters^*6 of rain falls in one hour, or that much rain is expected. Third, road workers or the police think water may cover the road. This time, the first thing happened.

The office will announce when the road opens again.

1. *1 underpass: a part of a road that goes under another road or a railway
2. *2 kilometer: a measure of distance, 1,000 meters
3. *3 intersection: a place where two roads cross
4. *4 Typhoon: a very big storm with strong wind and heavy rain
5. *5 warning: a message that tells people about danger
6. *6 millimeters: a very small measure of length; 1,000 millimeters are 1 meter