KARACHI: Heavy spells of rain followed by intermittent showers lashed most parts of Sindh on Wednesday causing flooding in both the urban and rural areas and playing havoc with the road communication and electricity networks, besides crippling the routine life.

High velocity winds started blowing in the upper Sindh a little after midday and swept through almost the entire province. Downpour that followed lashed Sukkur, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Ghotki districts before heading for Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Thatta, Sujawal, Sanghar and Hyderabad districts.

The heaviest spell in each district spanned 30 minutes to one-and-a-half hours sending people indoors and leading to the closure of businesses and disruption in other routine activities. In most areas, knee-deep water accumulated in lanes and streets. Highways and arterial roads also inundated.

Electricity in most areas went off soon after winds, coupled with the downpour, started blowing promp­ting power utilities to inform consumers that feeders had been shut as a precautionary measure to prevent loss of life and property.

SUKKUR: It started raining in the afternoon minutes after a thunderstorm hit the upper Sindh areas including Sukkur, Rohri, Salehpat, Kandhra, Sangi, Pannu Aqil, Ghotki, Adilpur, Ghouspur, Tang­wani, Bakhshapur and Kandhkot, turning the weather pleasant. The downpour continued to lash the area for more than an hour. Inter­mittent showers persisted during the next hour.

The highways and most arterial roads remained under deep water till late in the evening causing a halt to vehicular traffic and closure of bazaars, markets, shops and commercial outlets.

Power supply to most parts of Sukkur district went off in the afternoon and could not be completely restored till late in the evening.

A 14-year-old youth, Saud Akbar, was seriously injured when strong winds brought down a iron sheet fixed atop a structure opposite Al-Madina Hotel in the Clock Tower area.

The victim was taken to the Sukkur Civil Hospital where doctors referred him to a major hospital in Karachi due to his grave injuries. The outer wall of Anwar Paracha Hospital collapsed while many hoardings and billboards were blown away by strong winds in different parts of the city. Besides, a number of trees were uprooted in the district.

Similar incidents took place in Shikarpur, Ghotki, Kandhkot-Kash­more and Jacobabad districts but there were no reports of casualties.

HYDERABAD: A heavy spell of rain followed by strong winds lashed the entire district on Wednesday evening. The downpour continued for over half an hour bringing down the temperatures and inundating the low-lying areas.

It started raining a little after 5pm and intermittent showers continued to lash different parts of the district till 6pm. No casualties were reported but power outages hit almost the entire district till late in the evening. The Hyderabad Elec­tric Supply Company (Hesco) said that 20 of the 92 feeders in the district were shut as a precautionary measure.

The Met office at Karachi recorded 24mm rain in Hyderabad and forecast more rains in the next couple of days.

A heavy spell of rain and intermittent showers also lashed Jamshoro, Tando Allahyar, Matiari and Tando Mohammad Khan causing flooding and outages in most areas.

KHAIRPUR: Khairpur district received downpour at about 12:30pm on Wednesday after a thunderstorm swept through the area.

The weather conditions badly affected normal life and led the closure of all business, trade, commercial and other routine activities.

Vehicular traffic gradually turned thin due to poor visibility and inundation of roads.

MIRPURKHAS: The entire Mipurkhas district received heavy rain on Wednesday evening after strong winds blew away a large number of hoardings and uprooted trees. Intermittent showers lasted three hours afterwardsPower went off with the first drop of rain and could not be restored in many areas till late in the evening.

BADIN: Heavy downpour coupled with strong winds lashed the Badin district at around 7pm paralysing the normal life and causing flooding in the low lying areas.

The rain spell spanned about 35 minutes while a drizzle persisted into the late evening.

MITHI: Most areas of the Thar desert region received a heavy spell of rain on Wednesday evening bring joy to the residents of this drought-hit district.

SANGHAR: Most parts of Sanghar district were hit by a thunderstorm and heavy rainfall which followed light showers on Wednesday evening.

The electricity and road networks were badly hit by the downpour, which led to flooding in the entire district.

THATTA: Thatta and Sujawal districts on Wednesday experienced some of the heaviest rainfalls on Wednesday evening.

Most areas submerged in knee-deep water within an hour of downpour bringing the normal life to almost a standstill.

High velocity winds played havoc with several hundred poultry shades, hoardings and trees across the two districts.However, no casualties were reported till late in the evening.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2016