PAKISTAN’S second-biggest city Lahore saw record-high rainfall early today, leaving at least one person dead, while flooding streets, disrupting traffic and affecting normal life, officials said.

The downpour started before dawn and is expected to continue for a week at intervals, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. In an advisory, it said the rains are likely to cause flash flooding and landslides.

The monsoon rains also lashed Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, and other areas.

The latest spell of rains in Lahore was so heavy that it quickly flooded many streets and rainwater entered some wards in the Jinnah and Services hospitals in the capital of Punjab province, causing problems for patients undergoing treatment there.

At least one person died after being electrocuted in the Nishat Colony neighbourhood, police said.

Some areas in the city received a record-high 14 inches of rainfall in a few hours, breaking a 44-year-old record in Lahore, according to the water and sanitation agency. 

Drainage systems quickly became overwhelmed after the rains, flooding several residential areas, officials said. 

Monsoon rains have returned to Pakistan as the country is still struggling to recover from devastating 2022 floods that affected 33 million people and killed 1,739. 

Weather forecasters and scientists have blamed climate change for the unusually heavy monsoon rains.