KARACHI, 23 September 2006 — A storm developing over the northern Arabian Sea was forecast to hit Pakistan’s coastal cities by tomorrow. Meteorologist Shaukat Awan told the state-run PTV that high waves accompanied by heavy rains were likely to inundate low-lying areas in the Badin, Thatta and Thar coastal cities east of the port city of Karachi.
The Maritime Security Agency has issued a warning to fishermen not to venture out into the sea because of the storm, which was developing about 500 kilometers south of Karachi.
According to weather experts, the storm can hit the coastal areas of Badin and Thatta in the interior of Sindh within 72 hours. Karachi is not threatened by the storm but the Met office has forecast rise in temperature in the city and adjoining areas during the next 48 hours.
High Alert in Thatta
Authorities have put emergency services on high alert in Thatta. All precautionary measures have been taken and people living in coastal areas have been informed about the storm threat, an official said.
Badin district official Aftab Ahmed said the district government has been told to take precautionary measures and necessary relief steps to cope with any emergency. Revenue Department officials have been sent to the coastal areas of the district to inform people about the possible emergency, he further said.
Bangladesh Declares Emergency
The government declared a state of emergency in the coastal districts of southern Bangladesh as the death toll from the tropical storm in the Bay of Bengal rose to 56 yesterday, local officials and witnesses said.
The overnight toll of 39 rose as coast guard rescuers recovered more bodies of fishermen. Thousands of other fishermen were unaccounted for as more than 600 fishing trawlers and sailing boats went missing in the storm. Under the state of emergency, the search and rescue operations were intensified in frantic efforts to locate survivors and bodies.
The Ports and Shipping Ministry also suspended all ferry services to islands and ordered harbors and river stations to hoist danger signals to incoming vessels.
A Bangladesh Navy ship also sank off the Khulna-Mongla coast in Tuesday’s raging winds and heavy rains that inundated at least a dozen coastal towns in the Barisal region.
A joint rescue operation mounted by Air Force helicopters and Coast Guard boats helped evacuate 40 seamen from the sinking BNS Shaheed Farid, but the commander of the ship, Firoze Kabir, was missing.
