IRIN
PAKISTAN: Cyclone leaves devastation across Balochistan Province
27 June 2007


KARACHI, 27 June 2007 (IRIN) - Cyclone Yemyin which struck coastal areas 
of Pakistan's Sindh and Balochistan provinces over the past few days has 
killed over a dozen people and inflicted extensive damage to houses and 
roads along the coast, leaving structures flattened.

Sixteen people were reported to have been killed in Balochistan, while 
32 fishermen who left the Karachi coast on 26 June were feared to have 
drowned. The cyclone caused winds of up to 130km an hour.

The cyclone tore away chunks of the coastal highway that runs from the 
southern city of Karachi to Balochistan.

The worst hit areas were the towns of Ormara, Pasni and Gwadar in 
Balochistan, some 400km west of Karachi, and areas close to them. 
Hundreds of people in the port town of Gwadar took shelter on hills in 
the area to escape the furious waves.

Army helicopters rescued 100 people from the town of Gadani in 
Balochistan, lying about 100km west of Karachi.

Apart from the collapse of hundreds and possibly thousands of houses 
along the coast, most belonging to fishing communities, the rains and 
wind disrupted Balochistan's road links with the rest of the country.

Major bridge down

The major bridge linking Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, 
with Karachi near Bela town on the Balochistan coast, was washed away, 
leaving at least 600 vehicles stranded on either side. The route is used 
to supply materials and goods from Karachi to Quetta, and vice-versa.

Panic regarding the cyclone had by 27 June begun to recede, as the 
metereological office informed people the worst was over. "The people 
are picking up the pieces of their life, and trying to rebuild houses 
and other structures," Faheem Ahmed, a trader in the Hub area of 
Balochistan, about 50km from Karachi, told IRIN.

"The worst affected are poor fishing people and they have no means of 
coping after such a disaster," added Ahmed.

Karachi spared the worst

Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, was itself spared the worst fury of 
the cyclone, but, according to the chief weatherman of Sindh Province, 
Naeem Shah, has received 61 millimetres of rain since 25 June. He said 
the low-pressure system "would continue to cause moderate to heavy 
rains".

The massive evacuations, which began on 25 June - with tens of thousands 
fleeing coastal areas following warnings, and the deployment of Pakistan 
army troops - helped avert large-scale deaths.

Tariq Ayub, the Sindh Home Secretary, told IRIN the government had 
"moved quickly" and this had "prevented loss of life". He commended the 
army and navy for their contribution to the effort.

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