304 perished in torrential rains across country: NDMA

Karachi is expected to receive heavy rainfall with wind and thunderstorms from today

The monsoon rains that wreaked havoc in the country resulted in the deaths of 304 people including 118 children and damaged 8,889 houses, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

A report issued by the NDMA stated that 99 deaths were reported in Balochistan, 61 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), 60 in Punjab, 70 in Sindh, eight in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), five in Azad Kashmir and one death was reported in Islamabad.

At least 284 people were injured in the rain-related incidents.

The report said that 8,889 houses were damaged; 5,255 partially hit whereas 3,634 abodes totally collapsed after being hit by the downpours.

According to the NDMA, 6,000 dwellings in Balochistan; 2,406 in K-P, 165 in Sindh and 173 houses in G-B were affected whereas 1,694 livestock died in Islamabad.

A total of 590km stretches of highways, 44 bridges and five shops were damaged by the torrential rains.

Thirty-three bridges in G-B while 11 in Balochistan were destroyed by the downpours. In Balochistan, 580km stretches of highways while in K-P 6.5kms were damaged.

Read Death toll from rain, floods rises to 75

Meanwhile, Karachi is expected to receive heavy rainfall with wind and thunderstorms from Sunday (today), according to the latest weather advisory issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

In its fresh update, the PMD said strong monsoon currents have started penetrating into eastern Sindh and will prevail till July 26 and 27.

Under the influence of the news system, the city was expected to see widespread rain and thunderstorms with scattered heavy and very heavy falls.

The temperature of the metropolis would stay between 28 and 31 degrees Celsius with humidity reaching up to 90 per cent. Westerly and northwesterly winds are also likely to blow in the city.

The PMD has warned that the rain may generate urban flooding and water logging in low-lying areas of Karachi, Hyderabad, Matiari, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Tharparker, Tando M Khan, Tando Allayar, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Dadu, Jamshoro, Kambar Shahdadkot, Larkana and Sukkur during the forecast period.