KARACHI: Another spell of rain with strong winds hit the metropolis for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as the Met Office warned that the trend would likely continue for one more week.

The Met Office said that the fresh spell was caused by another low-pressure area formed in the Bay of Bengal and cyclonic storm Hikaa.

As Hikaa was expected to hit the coast of Oman, it warned that another low-pressure area was likely to develop in the Arabian Sea along Indian Gujarat with its extension to lower Sindh, including Karachi.

“The severe cyclonic storm Hikaa over east central Arabian Sea has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and tracked westwards at the speed of 22km/hour and is now located about 880 kilometres west-southwest of Karachi. Hikaa is likely to continue tracking westwards Oman coast during the next 12 hours and become a severe cyclonic storm before crossing Oman coast near Duqm late tonight,” said the cyclone related advisory of the Met Office.

After hours of extreme hot and humid weather, the situation started changing in the second half of the day and by 3pm thick and dark clouds covered the city and burst into heavy rain with strong winds.

The rain came with a hailstorm in isolated parts of Karachi, including Malir Cantt and Model Colony.

The maximum rainfall, 27 millimetres, or 1.06 inches, was recorded in Surjani Town followed by North Karachi (21.5mm); Gulshan-i-Hadeed (21mm); Jinnah Terminal (14.6mm) and Gulistan-i-Jauhar (13mm).

The Sindh government’s ongoing campaign to clean Karachi and promises from the municipal administration fell short in brining quick relief following the fresh spell of rain as several areas in the city remained flooded due to the poor drainage system and sewage overflow.

Life in several areas came to a standstill as people faced the devastation caused by the downpour and low-lying areas emerged as the worst affected.

Urban flooding warning

The Met Office this time did not only come up with the forecast of rain during the next few days but also warned about urban flooding in Karachi that could further worsen the situation in the city.

“Rain-thundershowers (with isolated heavy fall) at scattered places in districts of lower Sindh — Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Badin, Thatta, Dadu, and Karachi — and at isolated places in districts of Sukkur and Larkana, is expected till Monday,” said a Met Office statement. “Heavy falls may also generate urban flooding in districts of Hyderabad,

Thatta, Badin and Karachi on Saturday and Sunday.”

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2019