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Pakistan Cloudburst Smashes 100-Year Record

September 10, 2012; 8:01 AM

--Rain Emergency Declared in Sindh, say Geo News

The toll on lives and property in Pakistan rose on Monday as late-season cloudbursts pounded the plains of Sindh and Punjab.

The latest stormy outbursts came on the heels of a week that saw some of the country's heaviest rains of the year, causing scores of deaths and injuries, local media have reported.

Powerful thunderstorms unleashing flash flooding also triggered deadly roof collapses. Downed power lines caused electrocution deaths as well as blackouts. Crop damage was also reported.

Scene of flooding and its impact on residents of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan, on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 (AP Photo/Saleem Raza).

Monday, the death toll was at least 80 people, following three days of "rain related incidents," Pakistan's TheNews website said.

In Sindh, the area of Jacobabad was hit with 380 mm (about 15 inches) of rain within 24 hours, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

At least 13 people died in the region since Sunday, TheNews said.

A deputy commissioner in Shikarpur put at "over 150" the number of collapsed rooftops on homes in the town.

Submerged roads, buildings and vegetable fields were reported from the region, TheNews said.

A 100-year record was broken in region, although the report did not specify the site of record. The reported rainfall in Jacobabad was corroborated by data available to AccuWeather.com.

Sindh has a desert climate, with most of its roughly 4 to 8 inches of yearly rainfall happening during the summer monsoon of July-August. Summer monsoon winds normally leave the area near the start of September, so average rainfall for the month drops off sharply.

Normal September rainfall for Jacobabad is 11 mm (0.43 of an inch), according to the PMD. Thus, the 380-mm outburst represents more than 40 times the normal monthly rainfall. Even the normal yearly rainfall is only about 10 mm, or 4 inches.

Even so, September can be extremely wet, as witnessed by the devastating Sindh floods of 2011. Millions of people were displaced by record rains that struck the region in late August and September.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com