Typhoon rain breaks lake levee in Chiba, Japan

Heavy rain from Typhoon^*1 No. 25 has caused serious flooding^*2 in Chiba, an area in Japan near Tokyo. On September 22, the levee^*3 of North Inba Lake broke. The broken part is about 100 meters long. The Chiba government manages this lake. The lake is in Narita, a city in Chiba.

Part of another levee also broke. This levee stands beside a small water channel in Narita. The channel carries water from farms into the lake. A large area around the lake is now under water. Part of the levee of the Nagato River, in the nearby town of Sakae, also broke.

The Chiba government announced the news on September 23. It asked the national government for emergency help. On the same day, the Kanto Regional Development Bureau, an office of Japan's national land ministry, decided to send TEC-FORCE. TEC-FORCE is a special team that helps after disasters^*4.

1. *1 Typhoon: a very big storm with strong wind and heavy rain
2. *2 flooding: when water covers land that is usually dry
3. *3 levee: a long wall of earth built beside a river or lake to stop water from spreading
4. *4 disasters: very bad events, like big storms or floods, that hurt many people or places