ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s meteorological department has warned citizens that heavy rains and landslides may take place in several parts of the country today, Monday, as the death toll from rain-related incidents since Jun. 26 has surged to 798.
Pakistan has been reeling from heavy monsoon rains since late June, which have triggered floods and swept away homes and livestock in the country’s northern and eastern regions. Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) region has been the most severely impacted region since Jun. 26, reporting 479 deaths while the eastern Punjab province has reported 165 casualties, as per official figures. Sindh has reported 54 deaths, Gilgit-Baltistan 45, Balochistan 24, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 23 and Islamabad eight.
Authorities have warned that the ongoing monsoon spells are likely to trigger heavy rains in several parts of the country till Sept. 10. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said earlier this month that it feared the ongoing monsoon spells could trigger floods on the scale of the June 2022 disaster, which killed over 1,700 people and inflicted losses of over $30 billion, as per government estimates.
“During 25th August: Landslides/mudslides may cause road closures in vulnerable hilly areas of Kashmir during the forecast period,” the PMD said in its daily weather forecast. “Heavy downpour may cause urban flood in low lying areas of Narowal, Sialkot, Gujarat, Jhelum, Gujranwala and Lahore.”
