HYDERABAD, Aug 8: Five people were killed and at least 10 others injured after heavy rain and strong winds lashed different parts of Sindh on Wednesday. In Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan and Jamshoro districts, rain continued intermittently late into the night and the meteorological office predicted more moderate to heavy rain for Thursday in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions.
The Met office recorded 17mm of rain, which brought the temperature down to 29.1 degree Celsius from 39.5 earlier in the day. The speed of north-eastern windstorm was 50 nautical miles per hour.
A lineman of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, Azhar Ali Arain, died after he fell from an electricity pole in Kali Mori.
In Rehman town, a labourer died after stumbling from a rooftop during the storm. A fisherman from Kotri, Mehar Mallah, drowned near the Hyderabad bypass when he jumped into the Indus River after two boats of his fellow fishermen capsized.
Ten people, among them five women, were injured in Tando Mohammad Khan after a telephone tower struck houses of the Kohli community in Peer Mohallah. The names of the injured were Ms Heera, Ms Lachmi, Ms Mummy, Ms Sapna, Ms Shanti, Rano, Som Jee, Lakho and Bhemlo.
The district nazim announced compensation for the injured. Police took the injured to hospital.
A vast area of Hyderabad suffered electricity breakdown after the rain and windstorm, which uprooted signboards and trees. Electricity wires also fell on roads.
The major arteries in the city developed puddles, causing traffic jams on Qadam Gah Maula Ali, Cloth Market, Tulsi Das, Shah Makki and Latifabad-Hyderabad roads.
A Hesco spokesman said the storm had badly affected power supply from different feeders, rendering five grid stations inoperative.
NAWABSHAH: Rain and strong winds hit Nawabshah town and adjoining areas.
According to the Met office, Nawabshah recorded 6mm of rain. It forecast more rain for another three days. There was a widespread power failure after the downpour.
THATTA: Low-lying areas in Thatta, Sujawal, Chuhar Jamali, Jati and other towns were inundated after a spell of heavy rain. A gust of wind blew away roofs of several poultry farms and thatched houses. Power supply to many areas was disrupted.
In the coastal towns of Shah Bunder, Keti Bunder and Jati, rain fell continually the whole day and flood water submerged settlements.
Syed Gulab Shah, president of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum’s Thatta chapter, told Dawn that about 2,000 fishermen were out in the deep sea for fishing and the administration had not been unable to establish contacts with them. .
On the Hyderabad-Thatta National Highway, dozens of vehicles were stranded as rainwater rendered a portion of the road near Chhatto Chand impassable.
BADIN: Heavy rain, accompanied by dust storm, lashed Badin and other towns of the district. The 30-minute spell inundated low-lying areas and caused disruption in power supply.
Two people were killed when lightning struck a neighbourhood in Tando Bago.
The district administration advised fishermen not to venture into the sea.
Our Reporter in Karachi adds: The Meteorological Department said on Wednesday the monsoon weather system over India had started influencing Sindh.
The department forecast that the system would reach the north-eastern Arabian Sea by Thursday evening.
The system would bring widespread rain, dust storm and thunderstorm to Sindh, especially in the south and the coastal areas, including Karachi, on Thursday and Friday.
Heavy rain is also likely in southern Balochistan, especially along the coastal areas, on Friday and Saturday, the Met Department said.
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