65 Dies, Lightning, Flooding Wreaks Disaster In Pakistan

Over 65 people died in storm-related incidents, including lightning strikes, throughout Pakistan.

Reports indicate that April has seen unusually high rainfall, almost twice as much as the historical norm.

It was learned between Friday and Monday that heavy rains caused flash floods and building collapses, with lightning strikes accounting for at least 28 fatalities.

The worst-affected area was northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where over 1,300 homes were damaged and 32 people, including 15 children, died.

Spokesman for the province's disaster management body Anwar Khan clarified that all of the deaths were caused by roofs and walls collapsing.

Many of the impacted villages have built temporary shelters out of plastic sheeting and bamboo sticks and taken refuge on higher ground—even alongside highways.

While most places had a reprieve in the rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, further downpours are anticipated in the next several days.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department's Zaheer Ahmad Babar stressed that a major contributing cause to these unpredictable weather patterns, which impact the entire region, is climate change.

Pakistan is more vulnerable to erratic weather patterns, which is made worse by the damaging monsoon rains that often arrive in July.

Pakistan was swamped by monsoon floods in 2022, resulting in millions of people being displaced and an estimated $30 billion in losses.

In the most recent cases, lightning struck Punjab province and killed 21 people, including farmers harvesting wheat. Balochistan province recorded eight fatalities, seven of which were related to lightning strikes, while twenty-five districts experienced flooding and heavy rain.

Those who live in open rural areas, however, are more vulnerable during thunderstorms. The rainy weather on Monday and Tuesday caused schools in Balochistan to close; some of them reopened on Wednesday.