All educational institutions in Rawalpindi city were closed on Tuesday after a night of heavy rain pushed Nullah Lai above its evacuation threshold, the district administration said (Dawn; Express Tribune).
How much rain fell
Shamsabad recorded 201mm and New Katarian 186mm. In Islamabad, the E-11 sector recorded about 150mm.
Chief Water Engineer Muhammad Atiq said the rainfall in Rawalpindi had broken a 16-year record.
Nullah Lai
The nullah, which drains the city and has a long history of flooding it, peaked at about 23.5 feet at Katarian and 23 feet at Gawalmandi. The evacuation threshold is 20 feet, and both readings sat above it at the peak.
Levels had fallen back to roughly 20.5 feet at Katarian and 22 feet at Gawalmandi later in the day — still at or above the mark at which evacuation is triggered.
Rescue operations
Rescue 1122 evacuated 60 people, among them 30 from the Rahimabad Bridge area and eight from Kuri Road, with the remainder lifted from other flooded neighbourhoods.
No deaths have been reported. That is the significant fact in a city where Nullah Lai flooding has killed people repeatedly in past monsoons, and it should be read as a provisional figure while water levels remain high.
Context
The closure order covers Rawalpindi city and was issued by the district administration rather than the provincial education department. Parents should expect the position to be reviewed daily rather than assume a fixed reopening date; no reopening date had been announced at the time of writing.
[Image: heavy rain in the twin cities, via Dawn.]
