Isolated rain, thunderstorm expected again in Karachi today: Met Office

Isolated rain and thunderstorms are again expected in parts of Karachi today, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said in a forecast, a day after rain wreaked havoc in the metropolis and at least one electrocution death was reported in the city.

According to the PMD forecast, there are chances of light showers in the city tomorrow (Sunday) and on Monday as well under the influence of a monsoon system.

The weather in the city is expected to remain cloudy until Monday, the forecast added.

According to the forecast, a maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 26 degrees Celsius is expected to be recorded in Karachi today. Over the next two day, the metropolis will likely record a maximum temperature of 34 degrees Celsius and a minimum temperature of 26 degrees Celsius.

It added that scattered rain and thunderstorms were also expected in Jamshoro, Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sanghar and Khairpur districts today and tomorrow.

Rain wreaks havoc

On Friday, Karachi received intermittent rain with brief heavy spells for the third consecutive day.

The rain wreaked havoc on the city's ill-maintained civic infrastructure, fragile transmission and distribution system of the K-Electric (KE), as well as vehicular traffic on major thoroughfares.

The maximum rainfall — 66.7 millimetres or 2.62 inches — was recorded in Saadi Town on the day.

Roads were submerged by rainwater in almost every part of the city, especially in the low-lying areas where desilting work on major stormwater drains was still incomplete.

The flow of traffic had started slowing down within the first hour of the downpour in the first half of the day. It turned worse later and took hours to ease up due to multiple reasons, including ongoing development works on some thoroughfares, non-functioning of several traffic signals and the absence of traffic policemen from some intersections.

Long queues of vehicles started forming on main roads mainly due to flooding of different arteries and the Karachi traffic police through its radio services and broadcast media advised the commuters to take alternative routes.

In an advisory issued in the evening, the traffic police cited 17 key points in the city where the movement of vehicles was facing issues due to accumulated rainwater on roads.

Moreover, power supply in several parts of the city was disrupted as soon as the rain began on Friday and took hours to restore. However, KE claimed that the downpour had not affected its operation to a large extent.

With more rain expected today, a spokesperson for the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi announced that all inter exams scheduled for Saturday had been postponed and their new date would be announced later.

Electrocution death

According to police, a man, identified as Sajid Lodhi, 45, suffered an electric shock and died near Chapal Gali in the Lighthouse area.

Risala SHO Amir Ikram claimed that Lodhi was a drug addict and he got electrocuted while trying to steal an electric bulb.

A spokesperson for KE said that initial findings suggested that the incident occurred inside a building where the man was electrocuted after he came into contact with internal wiring while reportedly attempting to cut the wires.

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