ISLAMABAD: Another 19 people were killed in different incidents after heavy monsoon rains lashed Pakistan in the last 24 hours, the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday, with the Met Office warning of more downpours over the weekend.
The rains, which began with the onset of monsoon season in mid-June, have so far killed 116 people, with nearly half the deaths taking place in the impoverished Balochistan province in the country’s southwest, according to official figures.
At least 56 people have died in Balochistan, 22 in Sindh, 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 10 in Gilgit-Baltistan, five in Punjab, four in Azad Kashmir and one in Islamabad. The downpours have caused injuries to 111 people, completely destroyed 312 houses, and caused damage to another 718.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned of more isolated falls and thunderstorms during the Eid Al-Adha holidays as monsoon currents continue to penetrate the South Asian country.
Vehicles navigate a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, July 8, 2022. (AP)
“Scattered thunderstorm/rain of moderate intensity with isolated heavy falls is expected over South & Southeast Sindh and Coastal Balochistan,” the PMD said in a statement.
“Scattered thunderstorm/rain of moderate intensity is also expected over the upper catchments of all the Major Rivers, Islamabad along with Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and DG Khan Divisions. Isolated thunderstorm/rain is expected over rest of the country.”
Residents commute through a flooded street during the monsoon season in Karachi, Pakistan July 8, 2022. (REUTERS)
On Thursday, the PMD said heavy rains might generate urban floods in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot on July 9-10. It advised travelers and tourists to remain cautious during the forecast period.
In 2010, one of the worst floods affected around 20 million people in Pakistan, with infrastructure damage running into billions of dollars and huge swathes of crops destroyed as one fifth of the country was inundated.
A Pakistani man push his bike through a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, July 8, 2022. (AP_
Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman this week said the recent rains were 87 percent heavier than the average downpour in Pakistan.
She linked the heavier rains to changes in weather patterns, saying Pakistan should be ready to face more floods as the country’s glaciers were melting at a faster pace.
