Weather woes: Three dead as rains lash Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Earthquake survivors living in tents in Chitral seek shelter in primary school

SWABI/ CHITRAL/ NOWSHERA/ HAZARA/ SWAT/ PESHAWAR/ LOWER DIR: At least three people were killed and another nine were injured in rain-related incidents across the quake hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday. Landslides and heavy snowfall blocked multiple roads in the province.

A man was killed after being struck by lightning in Akora Khattak in Nowshera on Tuesday night. The victim was returning home when he was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.

Four people were injured in the Khat Kalay area of Nowshera when heavy rains caused a roof to collapse. In Swabi, one person lost their life in a rain-related incident.

A woman, Fazilat Bibi, was killed along with her livestock when lightning struck her house in the Sar Sardaray area of Manglawar. Two other women were injured when a house collapsed in the Luqman Banda area of Lower Dir due to heavy rains. Dir received 81mm rainfall on Wednesday.

Heavy rains left a trail of destruction and added to the miseries of residents across the quake-hit province on Wednesday.

According to district administration officials in Swabi, the deluge damaged two government schools in the district.

In the Kaghan valley, where snowfall in recent weeks had trapped residents and hundreds of tourists, was snowed in again on Wednesday. Heavy rain and snowfall triggered landslides which blocked Shahrah-e-Kaghan from Ghanol to Kaghan at various points. Kaghan, which received three feet of snow, was inaccessible. The Babusar Top road has been blocked due to heavy snow.

In Swat, the heavy downpour and snowfall made conditions difficult for earthquake survivors, many of whom had been spending their nights under the open sky. Khadim Gul, a resident of Matta, said the earthquake had damaged their houses prior to the heavy rainfall that began in the region on Tuesday.

In Sangota, fear gripped students of Postgraduate Jehanzeb College when its building started giving way under the weight of heavy downpour. Kalimullah, a resident of Sangota, said the building had been declared as dangerous by the survey team after last week’s earthquake, but classes were still being held inside the building.

Meanwhile, 42mm of rain in Kalam caused landslides and blocked the Kalam road for all kinds of traffic.

In Upper Chitral, residents of Charon village who were living in tents since last week’s earthquake, were shifted to a primary school after heavy rainfall. Over 25mm of rain has caused landsliding in parts of Chitral blocking the Booni-Mastuj road, while roads in Sor Laspur, Yarkhun, Kalash Valley and Garam Chashma were blocked due to snow. Rains have also inundated parts of Karakoram Highway leading to the border with China.

More rain, snow ahead

The meteorological department has predicted that the ongoing spell of rain is expected to continue till Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2015.