SWABI/CHITRAL: A windstorm accompanied by heavy rain hit Swabi district on Sunday night injuring three members of a family, disrupting power supply and damaging crops.

Rescue 1122 officials said a motorcycle fell into a ditch along the Topi Bypass due to strong winds injuring all the three riders.

They said the injured, including Anwar Khan, 40, Ikram Khan, 32, and their elderly mother, were shifted by the personnel of the emergency service to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Topi.

Rescue 1122 district head Rafiullah Marwat later issued the “red alert” asking people to take precautionary measures against heavy rains, windstorms and flash floods to prevent damage to their life and property.

The downpour and windstorm that lasted more than an hour also caused a veranda to collapse in Dagai village in Razaar tehsil. However, no one was hurt in the incident.

Flash flood damages houses, crops in Chitral

Strong winds uprooted power poles and trees at many places. The suspension of electric supply was reported in the region.

The Peshawar Electric Supply Company blamed the power outage on the collapse of poles and transmission cables.

The windstorm snapped the main transmission line in the Doubian area.

The Pesco officials said the damage caused by the windstorm was so big that it required a “long time” to restore power supply.

The residents complained they’re troubled by the prolonged power outage, which began at 10:30pm on Sunday night, amid hot and humid weather.

They also complained about the suspension of mobile phone, internet and other telecom services.

The rainwater entered houses in various areas and shops in main markets of Topi tehsil, while the windstorm and downpour damaged sugarcane, maize and tobacco crops.

Hailstorms were also reported in several areas.

The farmers said the windstorm and damage caused by it was unprecedented.

They reported the collapse of signboards, trees and boundary walls of several houses and also said rainwater blocked roads.

However, no one was hurt, according to them.

The residents said low-lying areas including Tordher, Kaya, Sheikh Dheri, Chota Lahor, Kunda, Kadi, Charbagh, Saleem Khan, Maneri, Bamkhel, Marghuz, Tandkovi, Gar, Munara were inundated, while crops were also damaged by rainwater.

Meanwhile, the downpour-induced flash floods hit valleys of Lower Chitral early on Monday damaging houses, shops, crops and orchards.

Lower Chitral deputy commissioner Mohammad Ali Khan told Dawn that all shops of the Drosh Bazaar and more than 60 houses in the adjacent area were submerged in the floodwater.

He, however, said no damage to public life was reported as the residents moved to safety.

The DC said large tracts of maize crop, vegetables and orchards were swept away in the flooding, which also damaged water schemes causing a shortage of drinking water.

He said traffic on the Chitral-Peshawar Road remained suspended for more than five hours in the Drosh area.

He said officials of the district administration along with Rescue 1122 workers rushed to the affected area and began rescue work.

Mr Khan said the major road was reopened to traffic after five hours.

He said Birir and Jinjiret Koh valleys were also hit by floods but no one was hurt as authorities got all houses vacated in advance after receiving a disaster warning.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2023