QUETTA / RAWALPINDI: As the intense monsoon rains continued to pound the province on Sunday, at least five persons lost their life in various sections of Balochistan. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued a warning about further rain and landslides in several regions of the nation.
Throughout the previous twelve hours, Asna, the cyclonic storm, has continued to move southwestward and has weakened into a deep depression. The system is currently situated around 320 km northeast of Masirah Island in Oman, 370 km south of Gwadar, and 340 km east-southeast of Muscat, the capital of that nation.
According to officials, the northern districts of Balochistan, such as Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Harnai, and Qila Saifullah, have been especially severely affected. The region’s mud houses have been carried away by floods, and the intense rains have destroyed hundreds of homes in these areas.
A senior official from one of the impacted areas told Dawn, “The link roads in these districts have been washed away by flash floods, cutting off all road connections with the provincial capital, Quetta.”
More rain is predicted nationwide by the Met Office, while Cyclone Asna diminishes.
A couple was discovered dead on the Sibi-Harnai road when their automobile washed away by flash floods while they were trying to cross the seasonal Beeji streams. Residents retrieved their bodies afterward. Muhammad Ibrahim Khajak, a worker in the livestock division, was recognized as the man.
A kid drowned in Zhob, and in the last day, two other deaths were reported in the flood-affected villages of Qila Saifullah and Harnai.
More than a dozen villages in Jhal Magsi were under water due to flooding, making the situation there extremely dangerous. The inability of the families to reach the stranded families via road has complicated rescue attempts. In addition, there was a significant break in the Rabi canal in the Nasirabad area, which resulted in the flooding of multiple villages and the erosion of connecting highways.
From Monday (today) until Wednesday, with sporadic breaks in between, the Quetta Regional Meteorological Center has predicted rain and thundershowers in a number of districts, including Quetta, Zhob, Sibi, and Sherani. Until Sunday night, sea conditions are expected to stay rough to extremely rough with stormy winds of 40–50 km/h, with gusts up to 60 km/h. Balochistani fishermen are instructed not to go out into open waters until Monday.
Punjab and the upper regions
Additionally, the PMD has forecast rain and thundershowers for Monday and Tuesday in the country’s upper regions, which include Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Murree, Galyat, and Lahore.
These areas are predicted to be penetrated by a moist current from the Bay of Bengal, and in the evening of this day, a westerly wave is anticipated to approach the western portions of the nation.
On Monday and Tuesday, a number of districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Battagram, Mansehra, and Abbottabad, are also expected to see wind and thundershowers along with isolated heavy precipitation.
Sindh
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur, Dadu, Jacobabad, Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Tando Allahyar, etc. are also predicted to experience rain, wind, and thunderstorms.
