QUETTA, June 26: Tens of thousands of people fled for safety as cyclone Yemyin and high tides hit major parts of Balochistan coast and Ormara before noon and caused havoc in Pasni and Gwadar before moving towards the Iranian coast at around midday on Tuesday.

The cyclone caused widespread damage but did not claim any life. Home Secretary Tariq Ayub said that no one died because the government had taken maximum precautionary measures, forewarned the people and helped them to move to safety.

He said that army and navy helicopters rescued over 100 people from Gadani and Sonmiani. “Most of them were fishermen,” he said.

At least nine people, including a policeman and two Hindu pilgrims to Hinglaj, lost their lives in floods and rain-related incidents in different parts of Balochistan. The policeman died in the Karakh area. Rains and floods in seasonal rivers disrupted road communication between Khuzdar and Shahdadkot.

Most of the people of Gwadar town took shelter at Koh-i-Batil, the highest hill in the area. DCO Gwadar Iqbal Nadeem said that high tides measuring between 10 and 20 feet lashed the Makran coast near Gwadar.

The met office announcement about a powerful cyclone moving towards the coast caused panic among the people prompting them to flee to safe places. The cyclone hit the Koh-i-Batil, the natural breakwater for the newly-built Gwadar Deepsea Port.

Tidal waves lashed the other side of Gwadar coastline inundating the airport area of Shambey Ismail. The tides also lashed the Pasni airport and adjoining areas.

The cyclone first hit Ormara at 11.30am and later Pasni at 12.30 and an hour later Gwadar.

According to met office, the cyclone was subsiding and forming into a low pressure causing massive rains. Heavy rains played havoc with life, property and infrastructure, disrupting road Balochistan’s road links with the rest of the country. The major bridge linking Quetta with Karachi near Bela Town was washed away by floods. More than 800 vehicles, passenger coaches, trucks and buses, were stranded.

Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yusuf said a large number of people were marooned in Lasbela district and it was impossible for government officials to provide them immediate relief. He said he had asked nazims to extend all possible humanitarian help to the people. The chief minister said that over 600 fishermen had been rescued from the cyclone zone near Gadani and Sonmiani.

Another road destroyed by floods and torrential rains was the Coastal Highway, disrupting the vehicular traffic between Karachi and Gwadar. The Bela-Awaran highway was closed for vehicular traffic after heavy rains swept away many bridges and culverts at different places.

The Makran region was cut off from the rest of the country from all directions. The road communication between Panjgur and Turbat was also cut off and people were stranded at different places from Gichk and Hoshap.

Almost all the seasonal rivers are in high floods destroying hundreds of mud-houses in the vast areas of Makran.

The officials responsible for protection of Mirani dam opened the main spillway to save the structure because of massive pressure on the dam caused by rains in its catchment areas.

Thousands of people were shifted to safe place, Relief Commissioner Khuda Bakhsh Baloch told Dawn on telephone. “Most of the affected people were accommodated in school and college buildings. Some others were provided tents and relief goods. Many more left the area and joined their relatives in remote regions for safety and security,” the relief commissioner said.

He also said that the Dasht River was in high flood in the downstream following rains in Iranian Balochistan, cutting off all land routes.

In central Balochistan, road communication was disrupted between Quetta and Sibi as a bridge near Mach was washed away.

Heavy rains were also reported in Bugti and Marri hills and central Balochistan inundating the whole of Kachhi plains. The worst affected areas were Jhal Magsi, Ghandawa, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad and adjoining areas.

In Dhadar, floods and heavy rains disrupted vehicular traffic. Local irrigation officials claimed that the discharge in Bolan River was over 100,000 cusecs in the downstream. Hill torrents continue to inundate the low-lying areas in the plains following continuous rainfall in central Balochistan for the past 20 hours.