RAWALPINDI: Heavy rains and thunderstorm woke up the residents of the twin cities on Sunday morning, raising the water level in Leh Nullah from 10 to 14 feet and inundating low-lying areas in Rawalpindi.

The rain started before Fajr prayers and continued till 9am with occasional gaps and the sun overpowered heavy clouds in the afternoon. The rain brought down the mercury to 29 Celsius. Many downtown areas were flooded with rainwater.

The district administration, civil defence department and Rescue 1122 remained on high alert throughout the day to deal with any emergency.

Rainwater accumulated in the low-lying areas where residents remained busy till the afternoon draining out water.

“The Leh Nullah rose to 14 feet at Kattarian and 10 feet at Gawalmandi but the situation remained under control due to dredging of the nullah before the monsoon,” said Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf while talking to Dawn.

“Wasa officials were on alert to deal with any emergency. The heavy rain lashed in the catchment area of Leh Nullah and it raised the water level. However, the water receded two hours after the rain stopped,” he said.

The Meteorological Department recorded 76 millimetres (mm) of rainfall at Golra, 75mm at Saidpur,59mm at the airport, 40mm at Zero Point and 33mm at Bokra in Islamabad, 53 mm at Chaklala, 44mm at Shamsabad, 42mm each at Kutchery, Pirwadhai, Gawalmandi and 40mm at New Kattarian in Rawalpindi. It forecast further rain during the next 24 hours.

The Met Office said seasonal low lies over central Balochistan while moist currents from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are penetrating upper and southern parts of the country. A westerly wave is also affecting upper parts of the country.

Partly cloudy weather with rain-wind/thundershower is expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Islamabad, Punjab, Sindh, north/southeast Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Isolated heavy rains are also expected in upper KP, Potohar region, Kashmir and upper Punjab.

The Met Office warned that heavy rains may generate flash floods in nullahs/streams of KP, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Potohar region, D.G. Khan/Koh-i-Suleman & northeastern Balochistan.

It said that torrential rains may cause urban flooding in low-lying areas of northeastern Punjab, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Nowshera and southeastern Sindh.

Landslides/mudslides may cause road closures in the vulnerable hilly areas.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2025