Residents of Pakistan’s Jacobabad spend restless nights amid power cuts and heatwave

Record ID: 1813789

  • Title: Residents of Pakistan’s Jacobabad spend restless nights amid power cuts and heatwave
  • Date: 25th May 2024
  • Summary: JACOBABAD, PAKISTAN (MAY 24, 2024) (REUTERS) SILHOUETTE OF PERSON WORKING HAND PUMP FOR CHILD TO BATHE IN WATER CHILD SQUATTING UNDER HAND PUMP TO COOL OFF IN WATER JACOBABAD, PAKISTAN (MAY 24, 2024) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC AND PEOPLE MOVING ON MOSTLY DARK STREET DUE TO POWER CUT SHOPS OPERATING IN THE DARK SHOPKEEPER FANNING HIMSELF WITH PIECE OF CARDBO
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2024 01:58
  • Keywords: Jacobabad Pakistan climate heatwave power cut power outage temperature weather
  • Location: JACOBABAD, PAKISTAN
  • City: JACOBABAD, PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Environment,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA001547824052024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A child squats under a hand pump as water gushes out from the old rusty pipe, sending some reprieve to his body hours before the sun sets in yet another hot day in Pakistan's Jacobabad city.
    On Friday (May 24), the mercury soared to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in Jacobabad, located in the southern Sindh province, according to a regional metrological centre in Karachi. Yet, long after the sun has set, temperature in the city was recorded at 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit), rendering locals to spend another restless night in the heat.
    Jacobabad's roughly 200,000 residents are well aware of their reputation as one of the world's hottest cities. Even as they grapple with a severe heatwave sweeping across the region, frequent power cuts in the city add to their woes.
    Many residents took to gathering in outdoor cafes, some with a few lights operating in solar power, to pass the time. While some used the light from their mobile phones to illuminate their play on board games, others chose to pay innkeepers 10 rupees ($0.036) to sleep on the rooftops to get a good night's sleep.
    Jacobabad residents would have to cope with the heat for at least two more weeks, data from meteorological agency showed.
    The current sizzling temperature is likely to last until May 30, authorities said on Thursday (May 23). A second heatwave is expected to hit parts of the country from June 7 to June 8, and a third in the final week of June, an official from the climate change ministry said.
    (Production: Waseem Sattar, Shahabuddin Shahab, Jacinta Goh)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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