Torrential rain lashed Karachi on Thursday, causing widespread flooding, as downpours in August shattered 89-year-old records for the city, meteorological officials said.

Thursday marked the third day of heavy rain this week, during which more than a dozen people have died while residents have been forced to abandon their homes.

Provincial authorities were moving displaced families into school buildings as the military carried out rescue and relief operations.

“It has never rained so much in the month of August, according to our data,” the country’s chief meteorological officer, Sardar Sarfaraz, told Reuters, adding that the data went back to 1931.

Header image: People wade through a flooded residential area after heavy monsoon rains in Karachi on August 27, 2020. — AFP