Pakistan: Lahore records heaviest rainfall in years

A record amount of rain fell on Pakistan's second city of Lahore on Thursday, flooding houses and hospitals.

Some areas of the city, which is close to the border with neighboring India, saw 353 millimeters (14 inches) in a matter of hours, the water and sanitation agency said.

That broke a previous record of 332 millimeters over three hours in the city in July 1980, according to authorities.

Pakistan Meteorological Department's (PMD) deputy director, Farooq Dar, described the deluge as "record-breaking rainfall" in the region, according to AFP news agency.

Schools and offices remain closed in Lahore

At least one person is reported to have died in Lahore after being electrocuted. The city's commissioner has declared a state of emergency in the city, keeping all schools and offices closed for the day.

The heavy downpour quickly flooded many streets and rainwater entered some wards in the Jinnah and Services hospitals in Lahore, causing problems for patients undergoing treatment there.

An official in Lahore said the government had dedicated all resources to make sure clean-up operations were underway at the hospital and in the city.

Elsewhere, the mountainous northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also saw heavy rainfall the last three days. At least 24 people have died there, according to the provincial disaster management authority.

Heavy rainfall is common in the region in the monsoon season between June and September in Pakistan.

But the country, especially the south and the north of the country, faced catastrophic rainfall in 2022, with scientists linking the extreme weather event to climate change, or a long-term shift in weather patterns.

In neighboring India, more recently, more than 180 people have died after heavy rains triggered landslides in a hilly region in the southern state of Kerala.

rm/wmr (Reuters, AFP)