Karachi: Karachi and other areas of Sindh witnessed heavy rainfall coupled with strong winds and thunderstorms on Saturday increasing fears of urban flooding as the monsoon system across the country has intensified.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), heavy showers lashed DHA, Clifton, II Chundrigar Road, Ibrahim Hyderi, Korangi, Saddar, Sharae Faisal, Malir, and Stargate after 10am today. The monsoon rains flooded the Korangi nullah after which the EBM Causeway was closed for traffic.

Urban flooding was also reported in several localities. In Lyari, streets were inundated with rainwater coming up to the waist stranding people inside their houses. In northern parts of the city, water entered houses creating immense difficulties for residents.

Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab tweeted that the “major thrust” of the rain was in city’s District South. He also said teams were on the roads “to handle the situation”. In a subsequent tweet, Wahab said water had gathered on II Chundrigar Road, “the side of Jang Press and on the other side of CPO and Tower, area around HBL is clear because the City Naala is running well”.

Meanwhile, traffic jams were reported on PICT Gate Keamari, Causeway Nadi, Korangi Nadi, Safoora Chowrangi, Hassan Square, Sharae Faisal Drigh Road, and University Road due to water accumulation.

A report issued by the PMD said that the highest rainfall, in the last 24 hours, was recorded in Gulshan-e-Hadeed (94.7mm) followed by the Old Airport area (53.0mm), PAF Faisal Base (46.0mm), Jinnah Terminal Airport (38.6mm), Landhi (25.5mm), Gadap Town (13.6mm) and DHA Phase II (10.5mm).

“Different Karachi areas, including the northern and eastern parts, received moderate to heavy showers and some areas witnessed some very heavy falls. Gulshan-i-Hadeed for instance received the highest 94.7 millimeters of rainfall in a few hours of the spell. The trend is likely to continue tomorrow [Saturday] and may start weakening by Saturday night but it would be there,” he told Dawn.

Meanwhile, in a tweet on Saturday, Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said that Sindh and Balochistan were going through very high levels of rainfall on a 30-year average.