KARACHI: Torrential rains lashed the country’s financial capital of Karachi on Thursday, causing widespread flooding, as downpours in August shattered 89-year-old records for the city, meteorological officials said.

Thursday marked the third day of heavy rain this week, according to media, while residents have been forced to abandon their homes.

Provincial authorities were moving displaced families into school buildings, as the military carried out rescue and relief operations.

"It has never rained so much in the month of August, according to our data," the country's chief meteorological officer, Sardar Sarfaraz, told Reuters, adding that the data went back to 1931, 16 years before Pakistan gained independence from Britain.

Some 484 mm (19 inches) of rain had fallen this month, 130 mm on Thursday alone, he said.—