37 more people died in floods across country

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Another 37 people have died in flood-related incidents during the last 24 hours across the country, said NDMA on Saturday.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 32 people died in Sindh and five people died in Balochistan during the last 24 hours. The death toll in floods has now climbed up to 1,545. So far, 678 people have died in Sindh, 306 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 299 in Balochistan. There were 191 deaths in Punjab, 22 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 48 in Azad Kashmir.

According to the NDMA report, 92 people were also injured due to rains and floods during the last 24 hours. Since June 14, 12,850 people have been injured. More than 36,000 houses were damaged across the country. As many as 80 districts in the country are still affected by rain and floodwater.

Meanwhile, the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has said that River Indus is flowing in “medium flood” with discharge of 327,000 Cusecs while all other main rivers, including Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej are running normal.

According to daily FFC report on Saturday, Tarbela Reservoir is being maintained at its Maximum Conservation Level of 1550 feet. Mangla Dam at present is 1193.05 feet against its MCL 1242 feet (46.83 % storage still left). The combined live storage of country’s three major reservoirs (Tarbela, Chashma and Mangla) is 9.996 MAF which is 74.26% of total value of 13.461 MAF.

Yesterday’s trough of Westerly Wave over Northern parts of Afghanistan lies over Northern parts of Pakistan with weak seasonal low lies over Northeastern Balochistan. Weak moist currents from Arabian Sea are penetrating into upper parts of Pakistan up to 5,000 feet.

The Flood Forecasting Division Lahore has predicted scattered thunderstorm/rain of moderate intensity with isolated heavy falls over Islamabad, Punjab (Rawalpindi Division) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar Division), including over the upper catchments of Rivers Indus and Jhelum during the next 24 hours.

Isolated thunderstorm/rain may also occur over Punjab (Gujranwala, Sargodha and Lahore Divisions) besides over the upper catchments of Rivers Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej during the same period.