Global Warming Fuels Fierce Winds as Destructive Gusts Tear Through Multi-Story Parking Garage in Chiba City
Damage from strong winds continues across the country
“That road is one we use frequently. I can’t stop imagining what would have happened if something that large had fallen while I was walking with my child. It’s terrifying.”
A woman in her 30s living in Chiba City spoke about the incident.
Around 10:30 p.m. on October 31, a massive construction scaffolding collapsed in central Midori Ward, Chiba City. The site was a seven-story shopping center. Scaffolding installed on a multi-story parking garage was ripped off by a sudden gust of wind and toppled over, covering the walkway and bicycle parking below. Because the accident occurred late at night, fortunately no one was injured, but it could have easily turned into a major disaster.
[After the Accident] On November 1, the day after the incident, a photo of the collapsed scaffolding was taken from a nearby building with the manager’s permission.The fallen scaffolding was massive—approximately 20 meters high and 30 meters wide—and about two-thirds of it, which had been attached to the wall of the multi-story parking garage, was toppled at once by what was estimated to be winds exceeding 10 meters per second.
“The building houses a large shopping facility, and the ward office is next door, so the area is usually crowded during the day. The scaffolding likely weighed over six tons, and if people had been caught underneath, there would have been no chance of survival,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s local bureau.
According to the building’s owner, Shintoshi Life Holdings, painting work on the garage’s walls began in June, leaving only the south-facing scaffolding standing at the time of the collapse. When reporters visited the site the following morning, parts of the bent and collapsed scaffolding had spilled onto the ward office’s grounds, with city trees piercing the protective sheeting.
At the time the gust struck, Chiba City was under a tornado advisory. A firefighter from the nearby Midori Fire Station testified:
“Chiba Prefecture’s central region was under advisories for heavy rain, floods, strong winds, high waves, and lightning. Strong winds also occurred at this site during Typhoon Faxai in September 2019, which caused significant damage. It may be that the area is naturally prone to strong wind channels.”
Strong wind damage is a growing concern. In September, a tornado in Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture, caused one death, 83 injuries, and damaged more than 2,200 homes. That same month, multiple tornadoes struck Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, toppling prefab buildings.
Professor Yoshihiro Tachibana of Mie University, an expert in abnormal weather, explains the link to climate change:
“On the day the gust occurred in Chiba, a bomb cyclone passed through the prefecture. With atmospheric pressure dropping more than 40 hPa in 24 hours—a typhoon-level low—strong winds of around 40 m/s or tornadoes are unsurprising. This year, ocean temperatures remain high because the record-breaking summer heat slowed cooling. When the temperature difference between cold Arctic air and warm southern air is large, bomb cyclones like this are
From the November 28/December 5, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”
Reporting, photography, and text： Masayoshi Katayama (Journalist)