Gusty winds, rain hit parts of Karachi after severe heat spell

A dust storm followed by light rain hit parts of Karachi on Tuesday evening, after the city remained in the grips of a severe heat spell for two days.

The gusty winds could be seen flying objects around as the dark clouds covered parts of the city.

Soon after the weather conditions changed, residents in some areas reported power outages.

The districts in lower Sindh including Karachi have been under the influence of cyclonic storm Tauktae, and on Monday the mercury rose to 43.5 degrees Celsius in Karachi.

In an alert on Tuesday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said Tauktae, after intensifying into an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" had crossed Gujarat in India last night and weakened into a severe cyclonic storm laying over Rajasthan, India.

"A few dust/thunderstorm-rain [spells] accompanied with gusty winds of 30-50km/h may occur in Tharparkar and Umerkot districts during next 12 hours," the advisory said, adding that hot and dry weather will continue on Tuesday (today) in Karachi, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Badin and Mirpurkhas districts.

According to the alert, sea conditions will remain rough till Tuesday evening and fishermen of Sindh are advised to avoid going into deep sea. "They can resume their activities from tomorrow," it said.

In India, at least 24 people were killed and almost 100 went missing after Cyclone Tauktae slammed into its western parts on Monday evening, compounding the country's woes as it battles a devastating coronavirus surge.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power after the monster cyclone hammered the Gujarat coast.

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