Massive monsoon rains flanked by gusty winds have lashed large swaths across Pakistan, inundating streets, uprooting trees, and killing at least 11 people over the past 24 hours.
Eight deaths were reported from northeastern Punjab province, mainly provincial capital Lahore, which was hit by record-breaking rains on Wednesday, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Wednesday, adding that six people were also injured in rain-related incidents.
Most of the deaths reported due to electrocution, and roof collapses in different parts of the city, Mohsin Naqvi, acting chief minister of Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital, told reporters.
Another three casualties were reported from northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains knocked off power, uprooted trees and utility poles, and triggered landslides in several districts.
Lahore received a record-breaking 291mm of rain in just 10 hours on Tuesday, submerging main thoroughfares, and streets, knocking off the power, and causing the city canal to overflow.
The latest spell has broken a 30-year record of single-day rains, Naqvi said in a Twitter post.
“All the Cabinet members and administration were in the field to clear the rainwater. I am also monitoring the situation in the field and getting updates from all over Lahore continuously,” Naqvi said.
Rainwater also entered the city’s two major state-run hospitals, forcing the administration to shift patients to the upper portions of the buildings.
More rains forecast
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast more rains in the next 24 hours in parts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, southwestern Balochistan province, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The ongoing monsoon spell, which began in June, has so far killed over 40 people across Pakistan, according to the local media.
Monsoon rains have long wreaked havoc on Pakistan in terms of both human casualties and the destruction of already fragile infrastructure. In recent years, climate crisis has further increased their frequency, ferocity, and unpredictability.
Late year, unprecedented rains and floods inundated a third of Pakistan, killing over 1,700 people, destroying hundreds of thousands of houses, schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges in Balochistan and Sindh, and causing whopping losses of over $30 billion.
Source: TRTworld.com