Karachi: Authorities in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, were forced to close schools on Friday due to heavy rains and stormy winds, following a deep depression in the Arabian Sea. The weather office has warned that the system could intensify into a cyclonic storm.
Karachi experienced 147 mm (5.79 inches) of rainfall overnight, according to the local weather office. The city’s mayor, Murtaza Wahab, urged residents to avoid “unnecessary movement” in a post on X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing the severity of the situation.
The deep depression, currently situated off the Rann of Kutch in India’s Gujarat, is expected to strengthen into a cyclonic storm by Friday, according to India’s weather office. The storm is projected to move northwest over the Arabian Sea in the next two days.
In response to the impending storm, Pakistani authorities have advised fishermen and sailors to stay off the sea and issued warnings of potential flooding in urban areas and flash floods in hilly regions in the coming days.
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Since Sunday, over 28 people have lost their lives, and around 18,000 individuals have been evacuated from cities near the Gujarat coast, as reported by disaster management authorities on Thursday. The situation remains precarious, with more rain expected as the cyclonic storm continues to develop.
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The formation of a cyclonic storm over the Arabian Sea in August is an unusual event, with the last such occurrence recorded in 1964, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
