KARACHI — Heavy rains and winds lashed the port city of Karachi on Sunday as Cyclone Phet swirled along Pakistan's coastline after claiming the lives of 15 people in Oman.
Tens of thousands of people have already been removed from vulnerable coastal villages in the southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, but thousands more are refusing to abandon their homes.
"Cyclone Phet is expected to landfall near Karachi sometime Sunday evening packed with maximum winds of 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour," chief meteorologist Mohammad Riaz told AFP.
Hospitals have been put on alert and medicines and tinned foodstuffs stockpiled, as meteorologists warned the cyclone may uproot power and communication lines along the coast.
Riaz said the cyclone could generate ocean waves of up to four metres (over 13 feet) but would be at least 150 kilometres from Karachi, home to 16 million people.
