Rain Emergency Declared in Rawalpindi as Downpour Floods Islamabad's Twin City

Rawalpindi's Water and Sanitation Agency declared a rain emergency on September 28 as heavy rain lashed Islamabad and Rawalpindi, closed schools across the twin cities and disrupted electricity supply in several neighbourhoods after power feeders tripped.

How much rain fell, and where

The Pakistan Meteorological Department recorded 33mm of rain at Saidpur village, 25mm at Golra, 28mm at Pirwadhai and 27mm at Gawalmandi through the day. Beyond the twin cities, heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms in places was also reported in Kohat, Karak, Mianwali and Dunyapur, with rain forecast to continue across Attock, Chakwal, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Lahore and other parts of Punjab. In Kundian, rainwater entered homes and inundated streets and neighbourhoods, according to local reporting.

What the emergency declaration triggered

With Rawalpindi's Wasa on emergency footing, all field officers were mobilised and staff and heavy machinery deployed to low-lying areas prone to flooding. Civic authorities kept Nullah Lai and the city's other major drains under continuous monitoring through the day. As of the afternoon, water levels there remained within normal limits — 5 feet at Katarian and 2 feet at the Gawalmandi Bridge — a relief given the nullah's history of overflowing during the region's heavier monsoon downpours, which we've tracked in our coverage of this year's flash-flood warnings for Pakistan's upper regions. Government and private schools across the twin cities were closed for the day as a precaution, and electricity supply was disrupted in several areas after the downpour tripped power feeders, adding to residents' inconvenience.

A late-season event, not an early one

What makes this spell notable is timing. Pakistan's monsoon season conventionally winds down by September, and this year's heavier flood and flash-flood episodes were concentrated earlier in the summer. A rain emergency serious enough to shut schools and mobilise Wasa's full field response in the last week of September points to a monsoon pattern that isn't following the calendar it used to — consistent with the broader shift toward more erratic, less seasonally predictable rainfall that Pakistan's meteorologists have flagged across 2026, and part of the same volatility this year's smog and pollution season in Lahore is downstream of once the rain stops and the air dries out.

What to watch next

The immediate risk is whether Nullah Lai's water level rises past the thresholds authorities consider safe as more rain moves through Punjab and KP over the coming days. District administration officials in Rawalpindi have said monitoring will continue, and Wasa has urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel through low-lying areas until the current spell clears.

Build Better Pakistan's Climate Desk tracks flooding, monsoon patterns and civic emergency response across Pakistan.