As at least 12 people perished in rain-related incidents in Karachi; poor municipal services amid prolonged power outages are principally to blame for the rising death toll. The rain continued to lash the metropolis on a second consecutive day with most of the deaths caused by electrocution. Karachi has a long and complicated history with rain and despite the loss of human life every monsoon season, the risk posed due to urban flooding continues unabated.

Flooding in Karachi is usually caused by intense rainfall, which overwhelms the capacity of the drainage system, one that is choked due to poor municipal services and a general lack of cleanliness. The likelihood of urban flooding occurring is higher every year due to the high proportion of tarmac and paved surfaces, which limit water infiltration and increase the amount of water running off the ground surface as well as its speed. The natural drainage routes have often been altered in Karachi, which results in reduced capacity for excess water.

The fate of Karachi suffers because development is far from sustainable, and the risks of natural hazards and their impacts are not accounted for in the plans to address the growing needs of the metropolis. Disaster reduction policies and measures need to be implemented in the cities of Pakistan with a two-fold aim: to enable societies to be resilient to natural hazards while ensuring that development efforts do not increase the vulnerability to these hazards.

The long-term focus of hazard mitigation needs to branch out more from the more immediate and reactive activities taken during disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Urban flooding mitigation should include measures ranging from cleaning out drains to structural engineering and building code standards to land use planning and property acquisition. However, Karachi continues to suffer due to a lack of long-term vision to prevent precious loss of life, while short term measures to mitigate the risk fall less than short.