By Xinhua
Islamabad : Coastal areas in southern Pakistan were bracing for a cyclonic storm expected to cross the region by Monday night or early Tuesday, officials in the country's metrological department said.
Heavy rains are expected to hit the port city of Karachi, where over 200 people have died in the past two days due to rain-related incidents of falling of billboards, electricity wires, roofs and trees.
The storm is expected to hit Pakistan's southern and southwestern coastal areas with winds of up to 60 to 70 nautical miles per hour speed.
The storm is located in north Arabian Sea and is 100 miles away from Karachi and will arrive in the region within 6 to 12 hours, a MET official said late in the evening. Spiral of the rainfall is extending in most parts of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital.
Met office head Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry said that fears of cyclone to directly hit Karachi had ended but it would pass near the coastal areas and will result in heavy rains in Karachi in the coming hours.
Officials warned that the storm could cause coastal flooding in several rivers in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan and might wash away some areas.
Sindh government Advisor Wasim Akhtar told a news conference that the army had been put on alert in case of any emergency. He said that some 10,000 policemen would be on duty to deal with any situation.
An emergency plan has been chalked out with the establishment of four centres, he said, adding that people from coastal areas were being shifted to safe places.
Picnic spots along the coastal areas have been closed for the general public till Tuesday morning, he said, adding that generators and pumps had been arranged in case of power failure.