Water spurted out from a manhole in Yokohama at around 7:40 p.m. on July 10.
Officials had just issued a notice that a record-breaking deluge was occurring in parts of the city, with about 100 millimeters of rain per hour.
The water pillar exploded and sent the manhole and parts of the pavement flying.
A motorcycle was passing the site just then in an adjacent lane and miraculously missed being hit.
We spoke with the person who took this footage.
S/ Water kept gushing out continuously and then there was a rumbling of the ground that felt like an earthquake. When the shaking occurred, it exploded. I really thought I was going to die. The very heavy manhole came flying and landed a meter or two from where I was standing, so I thought this was serious.
According to police, no one was injured in the incident, but the windshields of three passenger cars were broken.
The weather in Tokyo was sunny during the day, but heavy rain drenched the Japanese capital in the evening.
S/ Reporter / That was loud thunder. The sound of thunder is echoing throughout the area.
Officials issued notices for record-setting short-term heavy rain in various parts of Tokyo as the downpours increased the risk of water-related disasters.
The rain was accompanied by strong winds, bringing about a typhoon-like condition.
S/ Reporter / People are holding umbrellas, but one of them just flipped inside out.
Some roads near Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo became flooded.
S/ Reporter / Are we safe? It doesn’t look like a road.
Rain also fell at Tokyo’s Shibuya Scramble Crossing.
Accumulated water covered people’s feet.
Whenever a car passed, water rippled onto the sidewalk.
S/ Shinjuku Station staff / Please be careful.
At Shinjuku Station, staff members were sweeping water from the station premises.
At nearby Seibu-Shinjuku Station, some ticket gates were closed due to the rain.
S/ Station announcement / Due to effects of the rain, the north entrance is currently closed. Please use the main entrance.
In Tokyo’s Yoyogi area, an underpass was closed off.
A red car was parked on one end.
About 90 minutes earlier, the car had gotten stuck in water that was inundating the underpass.
In Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, a road became flooded with accumulated rain.
Water ran through the road like a river.
Meanwhile, officials temporarily issued a notice that there was a risk of flooding of the Meguro River that flows through Tokyo.
AloJapan.com