Monsoon claims 8 lives in 2 days

Woman, child killed as their vehicle is swept by floodwater.

PESHAWAR/ DI KHAN:

Flash floods and heavy rainfalls wreaked havoc for another day in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, killing eight people and injuring 11 in the past two days, according to official accounts.

A damage report sent by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said three people died in Peshawar, while five others were killed in Abbottabad.

However, separate data received from across the province, showed that 13 people have died in K-P and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the past two days, including six in Peshawar, five in Abbottabad and two in South Waziristan.

Late on Friday, a Toyota double cabin was swept away near the Gomel Zam Dam, killing a woman and a child, a South Waziristan political administration official told The Express Tribune.

There were nearly 12 people on-board but the other passengers managed to survive, he said.

The names of the victims could not be ascertained immediately as the incident occurred late at night.

Rain recorded 

Up until Friday evening, four millimetres of rain was recorded in Chitral, while mountainous regions received snowfall, said Imtiaz, an official of the Peshawar Meteorological Department (PMD) while talking to The Express Tribune. Some areas of Chitral also experienced low-level floods.

A vast area of cultivated land has been submerged in the province due to encroachments on river and stream banks.

Speaking on the situation in Upper Dir, Imtiaz said that one millimetre of rainfall was recorded in the Warhi tehsil, while a stream passing through the Sultan Khel area overflowed and flooded nearby homes.

No rain was recorded in Timergara, Lower Dir, on Friday. River Panjkora overflowed due to encroachment by people who had build houses and other structures on the river banks.

Several places, including roads, were flooded in Shangla district because of a poor sewerage system in place. Imtiaz said that six millimetres rainfall was recorded in the area.

Swat district remains unaffected but heavy rainfall is expected in two to three days, he said.

The districts of Charsadda, Swabi and Mardan received an average rainfall of 12 millimetres. Streets were flooded in the Tangi tehsil, Charsadda. Other than some cultivated land submerged with water, no other damage was reported.

Muhammad Rafiq, another official of the PMD, said while talking to The Express Tribune, that 11 millimetres of rain was recorded in Risalpur. In Nowshera, the Kabul River experienced low levels of flooding.

Hundreds of tents at the Jalozai camp for the internally displaced persons in Nowshera were washed away. Luckily, because of less rain in the upper parts of Haripur, outages in the Indus River decreased. “It would have been an alarming situation if there were floods in the Indus River,” Rafiq said, adding that water from the Indus would have blocked the Kabul River and wreaked havoc in Nowshera.

Kohat experienced 13 millimetres of rain and flooding in the Lachi tehsil on Thursday night. Several houses have already been washed away in last week’s rain.

Data received from Karak and Bannu mentioned that six millimetres  was recorded in Karak, while one millimetre was recorded in Bannu, said Rafiq. The Kurram and Gambela rivers were in low flood but no human loss was reported.

Around six millimetres of rain was recorded in Parachinar, Kurram Agency. The situation in Orakzai and Hangu remained stable until Friday evening, he said, adding that these areas are expected to receive rainfall in the next three days.

Eight millimetres was recorded in Wana and Miranshah, North Waziristan. The surrounding mountains received heavy downpour, creating low floods in the streams passing through South and North Waziristan.

Ten millimetres of rain was recorded in Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber agencies. Some streams in Bajaur overflowed creating low-level floods, Rafiq said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2012.