Lahore, Pakistan — Pakistan’s cultural city of Lahore saw record rainfall early Thursday, leaving at least three people dead, flooding streets, disrupting traffic and disrupting daily life, officials said, as the number of Deaths from incidents related to rains during the last month exceeded 100.
In July, 99 people died in rain-related incidents with most of the deaths reported in eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the National Disaster Management Authority said.
The latest wave of downpours began before dawn and is expected to continue for a week at intervals, according to the NDMA. In an advisory, he said the rains are likely to cause flash flooding and landslides.
Monsoon rains also hit Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and other areas.
The latest spell of rain in Lahore was so intense that it quickly flooded many streets and rainwater entered some wards of the Jinnah and Services hospitals in the capital of Punjab province, causing problems for patients receiving treatment there.
At least one person died after being electrocuted in the Nishat Colony neighborhood. A 14-year-old boy drowned in a flooded street and a 5-year-old girl died after falling from the roof of her home, police said.
Some areas of the city received a record 353 millimeters (14 inches) of rain in a few hours, breaking a 44-year-old record in Lahore, according to the water and sanitation agency. In a statement, he said efforts were being made to pump out rainwater from main roads.
Drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed after the rains, flooding several residential areas, officials said. Rainwater entered dozens of houses in various parts of the city, residents said.
Monsoon rains have returned to Pakistan as the country still struggles to recover from the devastation. 2022 floods which affected 33 million people and killed 1,739. But forecasters say the country will receive less heavy rain compared to 2022, when climate-induced rains caused rivers to rise.
Pakistan registered its rainiest April since 1961, with more than double the usual rainfall for the month. Meteorologists and scientists have blamed climate change for the unusually heavy monsoon rains.
In neighboring Afghanistan, authorities were dealing with a different type of weather event Thursday and warned people not to leave their homes due to high temperatures.
Fawad Ayoubi, a forecasting officer at the country’s aviation department, said people should leave before 10am and after 4pm if they needed to leave home.
“The temperature will increase in the northern and northwestern provinces, as well as in the southwestern provinces,” Ayoubi said. “The reasons are the monsoon or the Indian heat that is affecting Afghanistan.”
The World Health Organization also shared advice on how Afghans could protect themselves in the warmer weather. He said people should wear a hat or wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, eat small meals more frequently and avoid leaving children in parked cars.
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