On 23 July 2001,

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

experienced a record breaking of rainfall, which was the 24 hours heaviest rainfall in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

during the past 100 years. Continuous downpour lasted for about 10 hours from 0600 to 1600 PST in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, caused the worst ever

Flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

in the local stream called Nulla Lai and its tributaries of Rawalpindi, which not only flood the low-lying areas of the twin cities but swept away the banks of the stream and buildings built in the encroachments. Islamabad's twin city,

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

experienced of rain during this event.

Causes

The cloud burst was the result of the sequel of vigorously developed cloud due to the combined effect of well marked westerly trough (Westerly wave), passing over 500

hpa HPA may refer to: Organizations * Harry Potter Alliance, a charity * Halifax Port Authority, Canada * Hamburg Port Authority, Germany * Hawaii Preparatory Academy, a school in Hawaii, US * Health Protection Agency, UK * Heerespersonalamt, the Ger ...

with enough supply of moisture from southwest monsoon. A surface low pressure formed over Hazara and Malakand division between 34-37ºN and 70-75ºE with central pressure less than 996 hpa. There was a gradually accentuating upper air westerly trough at 500 hpa between 40-50ºN and 60-70ºE and there were strong monsoon incursions from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal while the southwesterly monsoon current from the Arabian Sea showed strong convergence over Islamabad,

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...

and

Hazara Hazara may refer to: Ethnic groups * The Hazaras, a Persian-speaking people of Afghanistan and Pakistan * Aimaq Hazara, Aimaq's subtribe of Hazara origin * Hazarawals, a Hindko-speaking people of the Hazara region of northern Pakistan * Hazar ...

and Malakand Divisions and the presence of a strong southeasterly monsoon current from along the foothills of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

caused the

cloudburst A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation in a short period of time, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder, which is capable of creating flood conditions. Cloudbursts can quickly dump large amounts of water, e.g. 25 mm of prec ...

over the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Rainfall recorded by Pakistan Meteorological Department in different locations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is detailed below.

Aftermath

Pakistan Meteorological Department issued heavy rainfall forecast in its Weather Broadcast Bulletin a day earlier and Flash flood Warning was issued almost 4–5 hours in advance. Due to the continuous heavy downpour, the ''Nullah Lai'' and its tributaries over flooded and inundated the nearby houses, bridges and roads. According to the official figures, at least 10 people died, 800 houses were destroyed and 1,069 houses were damaged in Islamabad. Over all 61 people died of the catastrophe.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Pakistan Meteorological Department
Geography of Islamabad Floods in Pakistan Islamabad Floods, 2010 Islamabad Floods, 2010 2000s in Islamabad

Causes

Aftermath

See also

References

External links