Karachi Rainfall Record Broken After 36 Years
The last time a rainfall record was set for Karachi it was 1984 and the gauge measured 298.4mm at Faisal Base. Now, after a period of 36 years, the record has been broken at the same location with a marking of 345mm of recorded rainfall.
Yesterday, on August 25th, 2020, Hyderabad and Karachi faced the worst monsoon rainfall in 36 years, breaking the previously held record from 1984. What started as light rainfall on Monday and continued into early Tuesday morning quickly transformed into a torrential downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning. The Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declared a rain emergency across the province of Sindh with flooding making transportation impossible.
The climatic emergency has taken the lives of 5 people while causing drowning, wall collapses, and even electrocution, as reported by The Express Tribune. Numerous buildings and homes became submerged till their first storeys due to the uncommonly destructive Karachi rain. The Meteorological department office has also issued a warning for Thursday so yesterday’s catastrophe may not be the only one to be had this month.
Rescue, relief, and rehabilitation teams have already been activated in the metropolitan city as daily routines come to almost a complete halt. Other areas of Sindh like Mirpurkhas, Badin, and Thatta also faced flooding. Hyderabad met with 133mm of rain while Tando Jam received 93mm, both of whose low-lying areas are also partially flooded.
Stay tuned with Media Quotient Inc. on this developing story on the monsoon-affected conditions in Sindh, Pakistan.
Credit: Fareed Khan/AP
