Karachi sinks

Heavy rains on Tuesday wreaked havoc in Sindh, with the country’s financial hub Karachi battling record downpour that had claimed the lives of at least five people and severed road access to entire localities.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declared rain emergency all over the province, as authorities aided by armed forces began a giant clean-up operation.

As the scale of destruction became clearer during the day, large areas were covered in water and mud. In some areas, floodwaters rose to the first storey of small buildings.

Torrential rain of this type is uncommon in Karachi, where poor infrastructure can leave citizens vulnerable to flooding. It had been raining steadily for about 5 hours, and the met office has issued a severe weather warning for Thursday.

Some residents were forced onto rooftops and balconies while cars were thrust onto porches of homes, rammed like dodgem vehicles into tree trunks or tipped onto their side.

The government cancelled leave of the government employees while activating the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) as well as the relief commissioner to start rescue and rehabilitation work, officials said.

The rain, which began on Monday, continued throughout Tuesday in the form of light to heavy showers. It triggered unban flooding in several Karachi areas, bringing the routine life to almost standstill. There were reports of at least five deaths in the city due to drowning, wall collapses and electrocution.

It started with light showers in Karachi’s suburbs in the wee hours of Tuesday, before torrential rain, thunder, gales and lightning took over, breaking the record for rainfall in the month of August since 1931, when the Met Office began maintaining these records.

As a result, the usually fast-paced city came to halt. Its roads and streets turned into rivers and underpasses into canals, while houses in many neighbourhoods were flooded. As various stormwater drains overflowed, even the highways, along with nearby settlements, were inundated.

Due to flooding and infrastructural damages, thousands of motorcycles were reported to have been impaired and were carried by their owners, wading through waist-deep water. While the situation compelled citizens to stay in, for many, their houses were not a refuge safe enough.

Meanwhile, over 700 feeders and multiple transformers reportedly tripped during rain across the city, resulting in a wide-scale suspension of power supply. While in some areas, the supply was restored after a long wait of six hours, others remained deprived of electricity till late night.

The day saw 125mm of rain at Faisal Base – the highest in the city on Tuesday. The deluge also broke the city’s previous record for rainfall in August, with over 345mm of rain recorded at Faisal Base this month. The previous record was 298.4mm at Faisal Base in August, 1984.

Elsewhere in the province, the rain inundated parts of Mirpurkhas, Badin and Thatta districts. Low-lying areas of Hyderabad, where 133 millimetres (mm) of rain was recorded, and the nearby Tando Jam, which received 93mmm of rain, were also partially inundated.

Rain with thunderstorm was also reported from Tando Allahyar, Tando Bago, Dadu, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Khairpur, Jaccababad and other areas in the upper Sindh, prompting the authorities to issue alert particularly to train drivers and irrigation officials.

Dozens of roads and main markets were submerged in ankle-to-knee-deep water, as drainage systems could not work because of suspension of electricity supply to the pumping stations. Rainwater also entered government hospitals and other healthcare facilities in many affected districts

Because of the flash floods, scores of families started moving to safer place in Badin, Mirpurkhas and Thar districts, wading through ankle-deep water. while affected families in Tharparkar were reportedly being relocated to safer places.

In the wake of widespread damages, the chief minister held a meeting with local government department. The meeting was informed that heavy rains lashed most of the districts, including Karachi, affecting the day-to-day life.

Keeping in view the gravity of the situation, the chief minister declared rain emergency all over Sindh. He directed the relief commissioners and the PDMA to start relief work immediately and initiate survey of the losses once the on-going spell is over.

The PDMA Sindh said relief goods — including food items, blankets water coolers, dewatering pumps and tents — had been dispatched to the affected areas. The railways authorities had alerted the train drivers to remain careful in at two-way railway track between Kotri, Hyderabad and Tando Adam.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AGENCIES