Pakistan's Punjab issues fresh rain alert after 21 killed by storms last month
ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Monday issued a fresh alert about rains and strong, dusty winds in the province from June 2 till June 5, days after thunderstorms killed nearly two dozen people in Pakistan's most populous province.
Thunderstorms killed at least 21 people and injured more than 100 others in Punjab as moist currents penetrated upper parts of Pakistan late last month, according to national and provincial disaster management authorities.
More rains and gusty winds are expected in Rawalpindi, Murree, Galiat, Attock, Chakwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Jhelum, Gujranwala, Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Narowal, Okara, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Khushab, Sargodha, Mianwali, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar districts.
'Citizens should stay in safe places to protect themselves from lightning. The public should never go out under the open sky during thunderstorms and storms,' the PDMA quoted its Director-General Irfan Ali Kathia as saying.
Due to possible rains, it said, the intensity of heat will decrease during the three-day Eid Al-Adha festival, which begins on Saturday.
Kathia said the PDMA has alerted the district administrations as well as health, irrigation, construction and communications, local government and livestock departments.
Pakistan has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns which have led to frequent heat waves, untimely rains, storms, cyclones and droughts in recent years. Scientists have blamed the events on human-driven climate change.
Thunderstorms last month also claimed more than 10 lives, while 30 others sustained injuries in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan's northwest, according to provincial authorities.
In 2022, devastating floods, blamed on human-driven climate change, killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected another 33 million and caused the country over $30 billion in economic losses.
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