• Four killed in Punjab parts, the soldier loses his life due to the flood, the rays in KP
• The large size of the golf ball damaged vehicles, solar panels; Ráfastas uprooting trees, power pylons
• Sudden floods interrupt traffic on the Peshawar-Torkham highway
Khyber/Islamabad: A large amount of hail and a storm were extended by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federal Capital on Wednesday and charged several lives in both provinces, damaging public and private property, as well as permanent crops.
The rain also induced sudden floods in KP, which also affected traffic, particularly on the main Peshawar-Torkham road, where traffic remained suspended for up to five hours due to a swollen current. In Islamabad, hail channels “as large as a golf ball” damaged vehicles and solar panels, while Tarnol remained the most affected area, where strong winding winds and energy pylons.
The storm followed several dry and hot days in the northern part of the country, since the region witnessed ‘vertical instability’ when the hot air that rose from the Punjab plains came into contact with the cold winds from northern Iran, which led to a temperature contrast.
“Hail stones are formed due to this combination of variable temperatures, but extreme climatic events are becoming more common, and the large size of hail stones was one of them,” said Dr. Zaheer Babar, a MAC spokesman.
The hail stones of ‘Golf Ball’ damaged the property throughout the capital, with multitudes of people who share windshield photos and broken cars. Houses and markets full of debris and hail were seen, and even the roof of the Faisal mosque suffered some damage.
A person died after a mosque wall collapsed in the Rawalpindi Ratta area, and two lives were lost in Gujar Khan after a wall collapsed in a tram that passed through a street in Sohawa.
In Muzaffarh, a merchant was killed in a ray in Pull Magsan.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an army man was killed after lightning hit his bunker in the Khyber Landi Khotal area. Local administration and rescue 1122 said that Sepoy Ilyas Khan, a Bara resident, was killed in the place after being hit by lightning. The downpour also caused sudden floods, in which a car was swept.
In addition to the suspension of traffic on the Peshawar-Torkham road, rainwater also entered the traffic camp established for Afghan citizens near the Hamza Baba mausoleum, which affected the registration process of the families that were deported.
In the district of Charsadda, heavy rains along with the damaged hail storms of wheat and tobacco, vegetables, fruit orchards and uprooted trees and electricity posts. The downpour and bursts in Tangi, Shomali Hashtnagar and other areas also ranged.
Crops and vegetables were also damaged in the tribal district of Bajaur due to heavy rains along with strong winds.
The residents said Sunrise that the storm began around 3 pm and was witnessed in most parts of the district. But they mentioned that Khar, War Mamund, Lowi Mamund, Nawagai and Salarzai Tehsil were among the areas most affected by hail.
Four people were slightly injured when a vehicle immersed himself in a deep ditch after he deviated from the road due to the rain. The incident occurred near the bottle bridge in Bajaur.
In Mardan, the rain and the thunderstorms are uprooted near the Sharmakhano bridge on the Mardan-Malakand road, which seriously affected the traffic flow, which lasted more than several hours.
Wheat crops in various parts of the district were also damaged due to strong winds. Farmers feared that the damage due to rain and hail would affect the performance of wheat crops.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Authority for Disaster Management (PDMA) has said that it was completely prepared to deal with the situation of flooding in the districts of Khyber and other areas of the province. The PDMA has also sought a report on the damage caused by the heavy rains and floods of the Khyber district administration.
“We have been monitoring the situation and we were in contact with the respective district administration,” said the general director of the PDMA, PDMA Asfandyar Khattak, said a statement. All necessary measures have been taken to pay compensation and repair the losses caused by recent floods, he said.
Mohammad Ashfaq in Peshawar, Ibrahim Shinwari in Khyber, Jamal Hoti in Mardan, Faiz Muhammad in Charsdda, Anwarullah Khan in Bajaur and Kalbe Ali in Islamabad also contributed to this report
Posted in Dawn, April 17, 2025
