Sindh Weather Chaos: Flights cancelled, homes flooded as cyclone approaches

KARACHI: Heavy rainfall continues to batter Sindh for the third consecutive day, severely affecting road conditions and making it difficult to navigate flooded routes in Karachi and various areas of the province.

The persistent downpour has tragically claimed the lives of three people, including a husband and wife, in separate incidents.

The monsoon remains robust in Karachi, significantly impacting the urban landscape. Recorded rainfall reached 75 mm in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, 44 mm in Bin Qasim, 31 mm in Kiamari, and 28 mm in Nazimabad.

Many areas, especially low-lying regions, are grappling with severe challenges due to standing water.

Infrastructure has also been impacted; the plaster of Jinnah Hospital’s ceiling in Ward 22 collapsed, and a house in Sohrab Goth fell, resulting in the death of a couple and injuries to their daughter.

In Mirpurkhas, two days of continuous rain have led to water accumulation in several places, but the pumps brought in for drainage have remained unused for four days.

Several neighborhoods including Satellite Town, Pak Colony, Shah Latif Town, Bhan Singh, Hameed Pura, and Malik Riaz Colony are also experiencing water intrusion into homes.

The situation is dire at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), where various wards and the admin block have started leaking, prompting many patients to leave the hospital and return home as water entered the wards.

In District Badin, heavy rainfall has persisted for three days, causing water to accumulate in low-lying areas. Many villages in Golarchi are submerged, while water levels have risen in the kacha areas of Khairpur. Additionally, rain continues in Jacobabad, Thatta, Kashmore, Tando Allahyar, and Jamshoro.

The adverse weather has significantly disrupted air travel, with the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) canceling eight flights and delaying 35 others from Karachi and Islamabad due to the rains and operational issues.

Affected routes include flights between Karachi and Islamabad, Karachi and Skardu, and multiple international destinations. Delays range from 1.5 to 4.45 hours, impacting flights to and from Dubai, Damascus, Muscat, Madinah, Jeddah, and Baghdad.

Specifically, PIA flights PK301 to Islamabad and PK302 to Lahore have been delayed by 1.5 and three hours, respectively. Lahore-Karachi flights PK304 and PK305 are delayed by 1.5 hours, and the Lahore to Dubai flight PK335 will depart one hour late.

The Lahore to Muscat flight PK229 is delayed by four hours, scheduled to depart at 2:15 pm. Additional delays include flight PK189 from Lahore to Bahrain, departing 4.45 hours late at 11:30 pm, and Lahore to Skardu flight PK251, delayed by three hours.

Furthermore, the Met Office has issued a cyclone alert, indicating that a deep depression over the coastal district of Kachchh in India could intensify into a cyclonic storm, potentially impacting Sindh’s coastal belt within the next 24 hours.

This weather system is expected to bring windstorms along with heavy to very heavy rainfall until August 30 across multiple districts, including Karachi, Tharparkar, Badin, Thatta, Sujawal, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Umarkot, Mirpur Khas, Sanghar, Jamshoro, Dadu, and Shaheed Benazirabad.

Fishermen in Sindh have been advised to stay away from the sea until August 31 as the authorities remain on high alert, with emergency response teams ready to manage the impacts of the forecasted cyclonic conditions and ongoing floods.