Wet weather: Six killed as houses buckle under rainwater

While some residents enjoy weather change, others battle it out.

BAHAWALPUR/ FAISALABAD/ PESHAWAR/ LAHORE:

At least six people were killed and six others injured in accidents caused by a heavy downpour in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over Sunday and Monday.

In Peshawar, a couple and their child were killed when the roof of their house buckled under rainwater on Sunday night as they slept. They were trapped under the debris and rescued by neighbours. Rescue 1122 workers shifted them to Lady Reading Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.

In Charsadda, a child was killed and three others, including his father, were injured in the Saro area when the roof of their room collapsed.

Meanwhile, a seven-year-old child was injured when the roof of his home collapsed in the Ghundai area of Jamrud tehsil in Khyber Agency.

In Swat, two people were killed and another two injured in the Qamber area of Mingora when a room in their house collapsed. SHO of Rahimabad police station Akbar Zaib said the victims of the accident were rushed to a nearby hospital, where two of them succumbed to their injuries.

Police in Abbottabad told The Express Tribune that the torrential rain on Sunday caused a landslide that blocked roads and damaged nearly two dozen mud houses. Due to rain in the Hazara division on Sunday and Monday, roads in Torghar, Battagram, Mansehra, Haripur and Abbottabad districts were blocked. No loss of life was reported from the division.

In DI Khan district, dozens of houses and standing crops were damaged by floodwater. Residents said the water stood at a height of four to five feet from the ground. Locals fled to higher grounds, a resident of Fatha Ali village, Abdullah, told The Express Tribune. Former councillor of the area Abdul Hakim Khan demanded that the authorities conduct a survey to assess the damage and offer assistance to locals. Mud houses were also damaged in Parachinar while no loss of life was reported.

An official of the meteorological department in Peshawar said there may be further chances of rain in upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Officials at the department said Parachinar experienced 67 mm of rain, Malamjabba 42 mm, Swat 32 mm, Upper Dir 45 mm. Two inches of snow also settled in Kalam.

In Bahawalpur, on the other hand, residents enjoyed the pleasant change in the weather, visiting picnicking spots. Analysts say that the rainfall should ease conditions in Cholistan.

Faisalabad and its adjoining areas received seven millimeters of rain intermittently on Sunday and Monday. The local met office has forecast more rain over the next 24 hours. Agricultural scientist Dr. Noorul Islam Khan said the rainfall would benefit standing crops in arid and low-lying areas. “It is expected that Pakistan will yield a record wheat crop this year”. However, he cautioned, more rain will affect the crops badly.

In Lahore, the Meteoro­logical Department categorized the rainfall as ‘abnormal’. On Monday, Lahore and its adjoining areas experienced light drizzle – records at Lahore Airport’s Met Office showed 10 mm of rain on Sunday and 9.2 mm of rain on Monday. Director Met Lahore Sahabaza Khan said the weather should clear by Wednesday while Tuesday will remain cloudy. He added that a three-day spell of wet weather will start by the end of this week. No casualties were reported in the city due to weather conditions.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2014.